First sighting, NEOWISE, Palmer's

Comet NEOWISE, named after the space telescope that first discovered it on March 27th of this year, has been making quite a name for itself since it first became visible at the beginning of the month. But, alas, you had to get up at four in the morning to spot it and for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that our dawn skies have been foggy, I opted to wait until the fine comet started putting on a show in the evening. The skies were pretty clear for the first time tonight, so my son Noah and I grabbed our cameras and headed over to the local silage corn field, which has a great view of the northwest where NEOWISE lives. By around 10, it was finally dark enough to view it, and it was definitely a "Wow!" moment. The comet is not as bright as Hale-Bopp, and the tail's not as long as Hyakutake, but it's definitely the real deal and easily spotted with eyes alone. Now, if only I can capture decent pictures. This one, like the others I took, was through my big zoom telephoto on a not-big-enough tripod. Next try will be with a smaller lens and a sturdier support. Still, it's something (and, happily, Noah did much better with his new mirrorless Canon.)