So far I have seen a comet - Hale-Bopp - in April 1997 at my front door with the naked eye. After searching the skies for nearly a month and after many days of rainy weather, I found it one evening after sunset in the west (NW) very low just above the rooftops of the houses. It was fuzzy and it didnt have a 'long tail'. It was a very exciting and unforgettable moment for me seeing a comet for the first time in my life! It is different from a "shooting star" or meteor shower which streaks across the sky. I have seen only one shooting star unexpectedly at dawn in the South, from my front door in January 1999.
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Source and credit to University of Wisconsin-Madison
Moments before bursting in a dazzling fireball over southwestern Wisconsin, a likely meteor appears as a bright dot in the Wednesday night sky. This image was captured around 10:07 p.m. April 14 by a camera mounted on the northwest corner of the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Photo: provided by University of Wisconsin-Madison Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Space Science and Engineering Center.
The flash of what may have been a meteor over Madison, Wis., about 10 p.m. Wednesday, as seen from a weather observatory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences photo).
See: video
Recap my first comet sighting
A photo of Hale-Bopp comet photographed by Chris Stevenson in 1997. The comet I saw was not as spectacular as in this photo. By the time I saw it, the comet was very low on the horizon, just above the rooftops and in this orientation, but fuzzy and with no tail. The next night it has "gone" out of view. How lucky I was.
The mysteries of our universe and deep space never fails to fascinate me.
The mysteries of our universe and deep space never fails to fascinate me.
I want to see meteor showers but its impossible here, not safe to be out at night, lying down, staring at the nite sky because of robbers and thieves. April 16 - 25; Lyrids major meteor shower, peak April 22. After midnite. Every time there is a meteor shower, my nite sky is cloudy or rainy. No luck.
American Meteor Society - http://www.amsmeteors.org/index.html
