Thursday, July 16, 2020

Comets I Have Known...


Seeing our current comet brought back memories of the first comet I ever saw, Comet Bennett, which I photographed in March of 1970.  Kathy and I and our daughter Liz, who was two years old,  drove up to my family home in Milford, Connecticut for a visit.  I was not yet an amateur astronomer, but I had always be interested in astronomy.  Whenever there was a lunar eclipse, I would photograph it for the home town paper, The Milford Citizen.  Somewhere I had read there was going to be a comet, so of course I brought my camera equipment.  The article said I needed to get up at something like three in the morning to see it. I had never seen a comet before and so when I stepped into the back yard at 3 AM, I expected to see something go Woooosh overhead and disappear! Instead I saw this magnificent thing, hanging in the sky!  I could not believe how beautiful it was!  I shot this with a Nikon film camera using Tri-X film and a 35mm lens.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love this photo of the Comet and all of the stars. Light pollution was not what it is today. I have to smile at the old TV antenna in the photo. I am happy that you have always showed an interest in the sky and captured this shot.
Joan

Anonymous said...

So excited to see this photo from 1970 of Comet Bennett - 50 years ago and it was your first comet. So glad you continued with astronomy as we get to enjoy your wonderful photos. Chuckled at the old antenna! betsey