SpokEasy

A Matter of Degree?

\"matterA matter of degree? Sure! Neowise sounds like a newly-minted PhD. I have to remind myself that it\’s a comet.

As soon as I read about this comet, I hoped I would be able to see it. Alas, my efforts bore no fruit.

The first day I tried was Wednesday, July 15. My alarm clock didn\’t sound, and it was already past 5:30 when I got up. There was far too much daylight to make comet-gazing possible.

The next morning I tried again. Unfortunately I didn\’t remember exactly where in the sky to look for the comet. What looking I could do between force intervals had me eyeing the wrong part of the sky.

Friday, I thought I remembered reading something about looking close to Venus just before daylight. Still no luck. I checked online again. It said to look near the Big Dipper just past sunset.

I tried it; again no success.

Saturday at noon, the forecast for the evening said it would be mostly clear. Even so, I decided to skip the comet-chasing. My legs were tired, and I had a long ride planned for Sunday.

The forecast for that Sunday night was a stormy one; but then I read online that Neowise will be visible until mid-August. That gave me some hope. Perhaps I\’ll get to see the comet, after all?

Sunday, July 19 it was cloudy much of the day. Monday night I decided it would be wise to skip it; I had oral surgery scheduled for the next morning. \”Wise\”, eh? Remember that PhD. It\’s a matter of degree.