Missing Seeing A Comet...Again

I saw a notice on social media that a comet would be visible Sunday night, peak time around 10:50pm our time. The notice said we'd be able to see it with a telescope or a pair of binoculars. I told my son, who is interested in astronomy and we headed out into the cold Utah December night.

I brought out my camera with the zoom lens. I wasn't sure if it would be powerful enough to see anything, and even better, photograph anything, but since the article said it would be visible, I thought I'd give it a shot. I handed my binoculars to my son.

I had no idea where it was supposed to be. Again, since I was told it was so clear, I might be able to spot it right away. My son did some research--he said it should be near the Hyades star cluster in the constellation Taurus. The fact that he knew where it should be gave me hope. Now, all we had to do was find the thing and I would be seeing a comet for the first time in my life.

Growing up I heard all about Halley's Comet and that I would be fortunate enough to see it in my lifetime. As the date approached, I became older, grew out of my teenage years, and actually forgot about it. I was living in Denmark when it passed in 1986 and my mind was on other things. And, considering how cloudy it is in Denmark, I probably wouldn't have been able to see it anyway. And there's no mountains in Denmark we could have hiked to climb above the clouds even if we had wanted to.

I couldn't see anything through my camera lens Sunday night. I didn't really expect to. I hoped my son would spot it--he's spent a lot more time staring up at the stars. The longer we stayed outside, the less and less hopeful I became. I had to face the realization that I wouldn't be seeing a comet this time either.

I was disappointed, but it was also fun standing out in the middle of our cul-de-sac on a could December night with my son gazing at the stars.