July 2020

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) or Comet NEOWISE is a long period comet with a near-parabolic orbit discovered on March 27, 2020, by astronomers during the NEOWISE mission of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope.  For observers in the northern hemisphere, the comet could be seen on the northwestern horizon, below the Big Dipper. North of 45 degrees north, the comet was visible all night in mid-July 2020. 

A friend and I decided to get away from the Austin city lights, and do some sky watching.  We set up our lawn chairs near the entrance to the Circuit of the Americas raceway, cracked open some adult beverages, and turned our binoculars skyward for a few hours of relaxed, socially distanced, star gazing. 

About an hour into the evening, this grey & white kitten came out of the field, and hopped up into my lap.  She was super skinny.  I estimated her to be about 12 weeks old.  I figured she'd just check us out, and then go back into the field where her feline family was.  But this kitten just did not leave.  As the evening progressed, my friend and I occasionally walked the edges of the parking lot, but we found no sign of other kittens or the momma cat.   

So we named her "Comet", and I took her home that night.   Some folks go to the shelter and their adopt pets.  Comet adopted me.