This year has featured quite a lot of star gazing.
When I told my regular meditation group that for our 25th wedding anniversary we were going to look at telescopes, I thought they’d think us a bit odd.
But as one lady pointed out what could be more romantic than looking at the stars?
She is so right.
We spent two nights in dark sky territory – and the stars were fantastic.
My husand tried a bit of astrophotography and got some pretty cool shots, including one that we were advised had captured a hint of the aurora australis (not that we saw it ourselves!)
Photo by Michael Lund.
We also got up one morning just after dawn to try to spot Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) – or Comet A3.
We’d just about given up when I spotted it… I was so excited.
I was lucky enough to see Halley’s Comet back in 1986 and Hale-Bopp in 1996-97, so I’m quite a fan!
The closest Comet A3 came to Earth was around October 12 but it was cloudy, so we’d all but given up on seeing it again.
Then on Sunday evening the clouds cleared, so we headed out to try our luck.
Again, we’d all but given up when my husband spotted it.
You couldn’t really see it with the naked eye, but with binoculars it was clear enough to make out.
Michael attempted a photo with his phone, but it was very faint and you had to convince yourself you could see something.
The next day I happened to read that our phones have an astrophotography setting. What?
How come we didn’t know this? (Probably because nothing comes with instructions or a manual these days!)
So last night we gave it another go…
The sky has to be dark and the phone steady on a tripod or similar to minimise movement.
I managed to spot the comet at about 7pm, so Michael got ready to try to capture it.
The first photo not so great, but then this…
I love that my husband likes doing this as much as I do.
It’s actually very romantic looking at the sky together, whether it’s in the daytime spotting shapes in the clouds, or at night gazing at the stars.
It’s also a very mindful practice.
You have to be patient, concentrate and really look – especially if you’re trying to spot a comet.
Comet A3 is now rapidly starting to fade and will disappear soon (early November) – not to be seen again for what astronomers believe could be another 80,000 years – if it survives that long.
So if you want to give it a last go – you’ll need binoculars and a clear, dark western sky.
Look for the bright planet Venus and then move your eyes slowly to the right, looking for a blur.
If you don’t see it, just enjoy the time taken out to look at the stars – and notice what you can see.
Happy star gazing
Ann 🙏