We decided on Friday evening that we'd make one more trip down to Fort Churchill and take a last shot at seeing Comet NEOWISE. If I read things correctly, the comet was one day past its closest approach to Earth and would be higher in the sky, now below and to the left of the Big Dipper instead of almost directly below as it was a few days ago.

( Pretty but Unpromising Start )

For the past two nights, Lisa and I have been trying to get a look at Comet NEOWISE. While Fernley isn't as brightly lit as Reno/Sparks, it's still too bright to see the comet. Friday night we tried going north on NV-447. This had the advantage of putting the lights of Reno/Sparks and Fernley behind us, but there was a limit to how far we could go ( Read more... )

It was a little farther that we were comfortable walking in the night chill here at 6000 feet, so we drove (over the safe route past the high school) to the Tonopah Stargazing Park tonight after dinner. The park is a fenced off area with four concrete pads at the corners with picnic tables (good places for setting up telescopes) and a center ( Read more... )