APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
Post Reply
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5344
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am
Contact:

APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Post by APOD Robot » Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:05 am

Image Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn Mountains

Explanation: Normally, Steamboat Point looks cool -- but not this cool. Every day, the iconic peak of the Bighorn Mountains is an interesting sight, in particular from US Highway 14 in Wyoming. On some rare days, the rocky vertical ridges look even more incredible when seen in front of a distant lightning storm. Earlier this month, though, something even more unusual happened -- the naked-eye Comet NEOWISE rose above it in the middle of the night. Just as a distant lightning storm was occurring in the background. Recognizing a rare opportunity, a determined astrophotographer spent a sleepless night capturing over 1400 images of this unusual triple conjunction. The featured image is among the best of them, with the foreground lit by the Moon off to the right. Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is now headed back to the outer Solar System, destined to return only in about 6700 years.

<< Previous APOD This Day in APOD Next APOD >>

gadieid
Ensign
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu May 24, 2007 10:57 am
Location: Israel
Contact:

Re: APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Post by gadieid » Mon Jul 27, 2020 9:28 am

Beautiful photo, but please be more precise when you use the term "triple conjunction".
It is so common to use it wrongly but from APOD I expect more. A triple conjunction is when there are 3 conjunctions in a row between two objects, since one of them is in retrograde motion. Not every planet-planet or planet-star conjunctions triple but some are!

When 3 objects are close together it is either Planetary-grouping or Plaentry-Trio (Quad, whatever) or just grouping. Nothing to do with conjunctions.
Gadi

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Post by orin stepanek » Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:24 am

CometLightning_Palmer_960.jpg


Beautiful! Neowise on a long space journey, adeos untill we meet
again in 6700 years! :mrgreen:
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

BDanielMayfield
Don't bring me down
Posts: 2524
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:24 am
AKA: Bruce
Location: East Idaho

Re: APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Post by BDanielMayfield » Mon Jul 27, 2020 1:25 pm

orin stepanek wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:24 am Beautiful! Neowise on a long space journey, adeos untill we meet
again in 6700 years! :mrgreen:
My how time flies. Why, I can remember just like it was yesterday when it was going to be 6800 years until NEOWISE's return. :wink:
Just as zero is not equal to infinity, everything coming from nothing is illogical.

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Post by neufer » Mon Jul 27, 2020 2:13 pm

BDanielMayfield wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 1:25 pm
orin stepanek wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:24 am
Beautiful! Neowise on a long space journey, adeos untill we meet
again in 6700 years! :mrgreen:
My how time flies.

Why, I can remember just like it was yesterday when it was going to be 6800 years until NEOWISE's return. :wink:
That earlier prediction was based upon Stonehenge astronomy:
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... 51#p304151
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
Cousin Ricky
Science Officer
Posts: 445
Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2013 4:08 pm
Location: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (+18.3, -64.9)

Re: APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Post by Cousin Ricky » Mon Jul 27, 2020 2:36 pm

The photographer has a picture of a couple of grizzly bears on his website. I don’t have that kind of bravery.

User avatar
johnnydeep
Commodore
Posts: 2781
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:57 pm

Re: APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Post by johnnydeep » Mon Jul 27, 2020 3:59 pm

orin stepanek wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:24 am CometLightning_Palmer_960.jpg

Beautiful! Neowise on a long space journey, adeos untill we meet
again in 6700 years! :mrgreen:
And quite a collection of objects with disparate longevities in this image: lightning, clouds, grass, trees, comet, mountain, rock, stars (though likely many - most?/all? - of those stars are younger than the rock that makes up the mountain!)
--
"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Post by neufer » Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:46 pm

johnnydeep wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 3:59 pm
And quite a collection of objects with disparate longevities in this image: lightning, clouds, grass, trees, comet, mountain, rock, stars (though likely many - most?/all? - of those stars are younger than the rock that makes up the mountain!)
  • The brighter B stars beyond the Bighorns for the mountains themselves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bighorn_Mountains wrote:

<<The Bighorns were uplifted during the Laramide orogeny beginning approximately 70 million years ago. They consist of over 9,000 feet (2,700 m) of sedimentary rock strata laid down before mountain-building began: the predominantly marine and near-shore sedimentary layers range from the Cambrian through the Lower Cretaceous, and are often rich in fossils. There is an unconformity where Silurian strata were exposed to erosion and are missing. The granite bedrock below these sedentary layers is now exposed along the crest of the Bighorns. The precambrian formations contain some of the oldest rocks in the world, at 3.25 billion years old. Following the uplift, large volumes of sediments, rich in early Tertiary fossils, were deposited in the adjoining basins. The ice ages of the Holocene led to extensive glaciation. Though many cirques, U-shaped valleys and glacial lakes can be found in the mountain range, the only remaining active glacier is the Cloud Peak Glacier, which is on the east slope of Cloud Peak.>>
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Post by orin stepanek » Mon Jul 27, 2020 6:16 pm

APOD Robot wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:05 am Image Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn Mountains

Explanation: Normally, Steamboat Point looks cool -- but not this cool. Every day, the iconic peak of the Bighorn Mountains is an interesting sight, in particular from US Highway 14 in Wyoming. On some rare days, the rocky vertical ridges look even more incredible when seen in front of a distant lightning storm. Earlier this month, though, something even more unusual happened -- the naked-eye Comet NEOWISE rose above it in the middle of the night. Just as a distant lightning storm was occurring in the background. Recognizing a rare opportunity, a determined astrophotographer spent a sleepless night capturing over 1400 images of this unusual triple conjunction. The featured image is among the best of them, with the foreground lit by the Moon off to the right. Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is now headed back to the outer Solar System, destined to return (only in about 6700) years.

<< Previous APOD This Day in APOD Next APOD >>
6700!????
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Post by neufer » Mon Jul 27, 2020 6:27 pm

orin stepanek wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 6:16 pm
APOD Robot wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:05 am
Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is now headed back to the outer Solar System, destined to return (only in about 6700) years.
6700!????
Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is now headed back to the outer Solar System, destined to return (only in about 6700 years).
Art Neuendorffer

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: Comet and Lightning Beyond Bighorn... (2020 Jul 27)

Post by orin stepanek » Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:30 am

neufer wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 6:27 pm
orin stepanek wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 6:16 pm
APOD Robot wrote: Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:05 am
Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is now headed back to the outer Solar System, destined to return (only in about 6700) years.
6700!????
Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is now headed back to the outer Solar System, destined to return (only in about 6700 years).
Yup! +1 :mrgreen:
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

Post Reply