Pan-Starrs

I think my love of starry nights came from the same place my love of storms came from.  Summer Vacations.  On one summer vacation around midsummer many years ago, the park attendant mentioning a meteor shower that night.

It was probably one of the annual shows but I remember seeing the Milky Way (something that I now have to travel almost an hour away from Wichita to see), and a few shooting stars.  My father went back into the 5th wheel camper to get coffee and I looked up and saw an explosion of shooting stars emanating from a central point in the sky.  Since then, I've been drawn to go out and look up.

I started astrophotography last year with a new lens and a lack of storms in the area. I'm still amazed at what I can pick up with the camera and how bad light pollution is in the area.

Pan Starrs is a recently discovered comet that appeared in the month of March.  Most accounts is that it's barely visible in the nights sky with binoculars.  This March has been overcast and when it's been clear, there were clouds on the horizon preventing us from seeing it.  There were two nights I went out, and luckily, I found it with the camera on March 18th. Per Earthsky.org the comet is getting closer and may be slightly brighter at month's end.  Keep looking west at sundown for about an hour after and you may need binoculars to see it.