Dang! So if in New England and you didn't see it last night or Wednesday night, that's it? Best, Leland Leland R. S. Torrence Leland Torrence Enterprises and the Guild 17 Vernon Court, Woodbridge, CT 06525 Office: 203-397-8505 Fax: 203-389-7516 Pager: 860-340-2174 Mobile: 203-981-4004 E-mail: [log in to unmask] www.LelandTorrenceEnterprises.com _____ From: His reply: "No. Have you read The Lazy Teenager by Virtual Reality?" [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of [log in to unmask] Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 10:33 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [BP] Comet A comet is second only to a total solar eclipse, in terms of making you aware of your teeny insignificant place in the universe. What we see in the sky is so ... predictable, so comfortable, that when a different form appears it can be alarming. Thus, a "star" with a wispy tail on its end is wonderfully sobering - if that tail were to just happen to sweep across the earth - well, we wouldn't need to worry about Iraq. Now, if you're thinking of Halley's Comet/Day of the Triffids/Day the World Caught Fire this is actually rather small. But Comet McNaughton is, as comets go, pretty damn grand. It's just like a star, really - but it has a tail! It's as if, one day, there were two suns - or it starting raining apples - or the moon started spinning. Comet McNaughton only has two really possible days left - it is getting closer and closer to the sun. If - and only if - you have unobstructed western exposure, go there just after sunset. Locate Venus, up and to the left of the location of the sunset - the bright "star". Draw a 60 degree slope down and to the right from Venus (that is, 60 degrees at the vertex of the angle formed by a perpendicular straight down to the horizon, and the slope you seek to draw). Somewhere along that imaginary line you should see another "star" - this evening it was half as bright as Venus (that's pretty damned bright because after the sun and the moon, Venus is number three). It has a fuzzy tail leading away from the sun. It wasn't any bigger than the width of a quarter held at arms length but ... it's astonishing. Christopher -- To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html -- To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: <http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>