Unexpectedly in Minnesota
A better account of a comet
Another clear night saw me trying to capture the comet again. This time with a longer lens. The comet is getting higher in the sky, and today is the closest approach to Earth (so it might be a bit brighter).
Still no progress on getting my telescope mount back from the repair place, so I’m limited to what I can image with a 300mm lens and a DSLR on a non-tracking tripod.
“An imperfect account of a comet…”
to quote Caroline Herschel.
There’s a buzz in the media over the rare green comet that’s whizzing past us right now. It’s fuelled in part by the colour (almost certainly not visible to the eye (especially from light polluted regions)), and in part by spectacular images from big telescopes.
I like comets, and try to observe them where possible, my last few have been rather faint fuzz-balls only visible though my telescope.
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), to give it its proper name, is just about visible to the naked eye (though you won’t see the colour) in London. Monday evening, the comet was predicted to rise above the neighbouring houses by about 10pm, so I headed out to the garden with a tripod and my phone (my telescope is in for repair).
The result is rather underwhelming. I had to compare the photo with various prediction images and plate solved images to even guess at where the comet is. I’ve outlined the faint smudge I believe is the comet in the image.
I’ll try again as soon as we get a clear night.
Barcelona by train.
It’s possible, if you’re determined enough, to travel to Barcelona by train from London.
I did this yesterday. Eurostar to Paris in two hours, a three hour stop over, including lunch, then onto the SNCF train to Barcelona for six and a half hours.
It was dark for the last three or so hours of the journey, so not much to see from the upper deck of the train. The return journey will be light, so should get better views of this region of Spain.
Walking Dagenham Week 1
One thing I’d forgotten about the back-roads of Dagenham is the almost fractal nature of them, roads branch off side roads that branch off a close that branch off a cul-de-sec (or banjo, in the colloquial). I’ve decide I’ll only walk those that have a road, I don’t want to venture up pedestrian only areas, as that could be a bit too close private land.
It’s fortunate that the main roads segment up the town so nicely, it means I can just pick an area bounded by the roads (or a park or trainline) and walk that and be confident I’ve covered all the streets.
On a side note, there are very few streets in Dagenham, only Broad Street, Gale Street and Halbutt Street, every other road is a Road, a Lane, an Avenue or Way or similar.
