Eyes to the Sky

With the warm, muggy July weather, day outings to bike or hike just haven't been happening. But...too much "home time" definitely affects my mental health in a negative way. Bob has a keen sense of when it is time for me to have a change of scenery and will often suggest an evening car ride. Getting out of the house for even an hour or so seems to be just what the doctor ordered.

One night this week we didn't pull out of our driveway until around 10 pm. The late hour was necessary because both of our goals required darkness.

First plan...watch the International Space Station (ISS) go overhead. Following the ISS has been something we have enjoyed for years. A NASA website gives exact times and dates for when the ISS will be passing over any location. The station is not visible everywhere on every night, but the sighting information is so precise that unless you are dealing with overcast skies, you should easily be able to spot the ISS. For example, here is the sighting info for that night in our area:

Time: 9:48 pm
Visible:  6 minutes
Max Height:  33º
Appears:  10º above SSW
Disappears:  12º above ENE

The ISS doesn't cross the sky from horizon to horizon, but rather appears and then likewise disappears exactly where the stats predict. It is one of the brightest objects in the night sky and easy to spot. 

A special memory of our ISS viewings happened quite a few years ago when the space shuttle was being used to transport astronauts back and forth. It was on a Thanksgiving evening and the shuttle had just detached from the ISS for its flight back to earth. With only our eyes, we were able to see the bright ISS traveling across the sky with the dimmer shuttle following closely behind!

Act #2 of our evening sky show began about an hour after sunset...~10 pm here. Comet NEOWISE  (the name is short for Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Space Explorer) came into view in the NW sky just below the Big Dipper. At first it was necessary to use binoculars to see the comet but as the sky darkened and we knew where to look, it was possible to see the comet and its long tail with the naked eye. 

(Photo Credit: nasa.gov)

Comet NEOWISE is currently about 70 million miles from Earth, which is about 3/4 the distance from the Earth to the sun. The comet is about 3 miles across and is moving at about 40 miles per second or 144,000 mph. I assumed watching a comet would be like trying to spot a meteor or falling star in that it would only be visible for a brief second. But...I was wrong. The comet remained  right above the horizon for as long as we were watching. So glad we got to see it, because it won't be back for another 6,800 years! 

I wish I could post an awesome photo of what we saw, but alas...my camera isn't up to the challenge. I even tried holding my iPhone up to the lens of the binoculars, but no luck there either. Instead, you can search for Neowise photos online or even better, check out the photos tagged #neowise on Instagram. These are truly incredible!!

There is a little more to our skywatching story, however. 😏 We had invited some friends to go along with us. Because of social distancing, we each drove separately. Bob had found a location away from town on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere where we could avoid distracting lights and trees that would block our view. 

As soon as we stepped out of our cars, the mosquitoes surrounded us in a cloud...thousands and thousands and thousands of the blood-sucking critters.

Anticipating this, we had all worn hoodies which immediately got cinched up around our faces. But this wasn't enough to avoid the onslaught. The four of us then also donned face masks (a pandemic staple in our cars.) These provided a little more protection but also made us look like a group of terrorists. 

Other than a couple of cars who drove past us on the dark road, no one else was around. Until...the county sheriff's deputy arrived with lights flashing. I guess one of the passer-bys suspected we might be up to no good and reported us. 

The deputy requested the guys' drivers licenses to run a check. Fumbling through his fat wallet in the dark, our friend did not hand over the drivers license as requested...but by mistake, his Costco membership card instead! 😆 Once the actual license had been found, and no past criminal records discovered, the deputy left us to go about our star gazing and mosquito feeding.

The evening was a good reminder in this time of limited travel. Sometimes the best souvenir memories are the little things in life. Not the exotic trips or big adventures...but just a time shared with friends that made you smile. 😉