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Comet Lulin Is Moving Closer To Earth
goran72 writes "The comet is swinging around the Sun and approaching the Earth. The photogenic Lulin has a bright tail and an 'anti-tail.' At its closest approach in February, Comet Lulin is expected to brighten to naked-eye visibility, reaching a magnitude of six."
I was in the Navy, out at sea (probably Atlantic) when Hale-Bopp was visible.
A few of the guys I worked with would venture out on deck at night, usually to sip whiskey or stargaze, or talk about how much we hated the Nav. Anyway, I've seen comets before so when a buddy said 'you should really come outside and see the comet' I was thinking 'meh...'
When I stepped outside, I initially thought the moon was out it was so bright on deck. I look up at the sky and almost fell down (seriously...had to catch myself). The comet was so bright and beautiful it damn near took my breath away. It stretched 3/4 of the way across the visible sky; looking like some kind of cosmic jewel.
I got to see a lot of interesting things while serving, but the comet was a definite highlight.
Having spent the entirety of my childhood in Houston, I always had an interest in astronomy and had a decently mounted catadioptric refractor that I used quite a bit to see/sketch the moon but the city glow makes the entire night sky bright orange. Stars and planets were pretty much off the menu except right after cold fronts in the winter, when I would sit outside for hours with a chart and try to track down all the stars I could find. It was never very many though, but it was exciting.
I went on an extended hiking and camping trip to the White Mountains in Colorado when I was 14 and on a whim decided to lug my scope with me strapped to the bottom of my pack. It was heavy and more of a burden than I thought it would be, but the very first evening we set camp at ~9,000 feet. After a trout dinner and some relaxing, the sun went down and slowly but surely the night sky began to appear. It was as close to a religious experience as I have ever had. I didn't sleep that night even though I had hiked for hours the previous day and was still trying to come to terms with "non-sea-level" atmospheric pressure.
Since then, I have seen the sky from many other vantage points with equally impressive vistas, but I still look back on that trip fondly. It was the first time I felt truly humbled and how insignificant we all are in the universe.