By now, we’ve all heard
the sad and disappointing news.
In an earlier post,
titled “A Glitter in the Night”, I told you about Comet ISON, a new spectacle of the skies,
slated to pass over our planet in December and early January. It was to be
bright, beautiful and spectacular, they assured us.
ISON was a special
comet for two reason. The first was, it was brand new and carrying material
from the solar system’s infancy, bringing with it a rare opportunity for study.
The other reason was
because it was a sun grazer comet. That means its trajectory was such that it
was to pass so close to the sun that it was in danger or melting or breaking up
before it reached earth’s naked-eye view.
Last Thursday, November
28th, was the day it was to make its closest pass to the sun, and,
all across the world, scientists watched anxiously though powerful telescopes.
ISON disappeared from view behind the sun - - and didn’t come out the other
side.
At least not all of it.
A small streak eventually appeared, and some telescopic evidence suggested at
least a small chunk of the comet had survived. The latest reports are that even
that is fading away.
The bottom line is,
most of the comet has been destroyed by the sun’s intense heat, and our
spectacular light show won’t happen.
It’s a disappointment,
to be sure. Many of us were looking forward to the rare sight.
But all is far from
lost.
We went out to visit
acreage-dwelling friends, a few days ago, and got to discussing astronomy over
dinner. One of the people at the table actually makes a hobby of the subject,
hauling a telescope out to the country and everything. He showed us two
beautiful pictures which were a product of this sort of effort.
The first one was Orion’s Nebula, less imaginatively known as M42. This image showed a brilliant cluster
of stars exploding across the sky like they’d been flung up there by the mighty
handful. Swoops and dips of blues and pinks form a huge starry cluster
surrounded by vivid points of light.
I’d hardly recovered
from that vision, when the second picture was passed around. This one showed
another astronomical phenomenon known as “Stephan’s Quintet”. Several
glittering galaxies swirled and twirled, so close together that they appeared
to nearly be bumping. The smooth ovals glittered in a multitude of beautiful
colors. “Spectacular” is the word that comes closest to describing it, but even
that seems somehow inadequate.
I wish I had pictures to share, but you can see some amazing images at the Hubble's Official Website Gallery Page.
It’s positively humbling
to think of the amazing things that are happening out there, so far out of our
reach.
The evening came to an
end, and as we stepped out on the deck to depart, we found the deep, winter
sky, high above the shadowy tree tops, ablaze with silvery stars. Here the big
dipper hung upside down, ready to spill its cosmic contents all over the sky.
There Orion’s belt shone as brightly and unmistakeably as it has for an age.
And high above it all, placid and knowing, the Northern Star winked at us from
the darkness.
It’s a given. With or
without ISON’s help, the winter sky is still going to be worth watching this
year. It’s one of Mother Nature’s finest works of art.
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