Catching Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS

Tuesday evening I drove up Maunakea to the Visitor Information Station to see if I could spot Comet C/2023 A3, a.k.a. Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS. I hadn't felt particularly motivated to get up before dawn to see it earlier, but now that it's in the evening sky I figured I'd see if I could spot it.

For an astronomer, I'm a little embarrassed at how few comets I've actually seen. While solar eclipses (which I actually have never seen) either land in very out-of-the-way places or come at inconvenient times when I'm scrambling not to spend money on travel, I haven't lacked for chances over the past few decades to see comets (though a few, like Comet NEOWISE in 2020, did come at times when I wasn't really able to get somewhere dark enough to see them). Still, I don't have much excuse for missing Comet McNaught in 2007 or Comet Lovejoy in 2011. I did see Comet Holmes' remarkable brightening in 2007, though that was an unusual comet since we were seeing it almost head-on, so it didn't really display much of a tail. There are probably a few more I missed in that time span as well which I've forgotten; on the whole, I have a pretty poor track record of seeing naked-eye comets even when presented with the opportunity.

Which is why I found myself yesterday trudging up the path to the top of Puʻu Kalepeamoa in some extremely strong (and frigid) winds, setting up my GoPro for a timelapse, and waiting for the sunset. The timelapse didn't quite work out as planned since it failed to adjust the exposure time properly after it got dark, but I managed to get some photos, at least. 

The setting Sun through a māmane tree. They're in bloom this time of year.

The nearly-full Moon, unfortunately, wasn't doing the comet any favors as it lit up the night sky. I was first able to make it out maybe a half hour after sunset, then as twilight faded it became easily visible for perhaps another hour or so; by the time I left, nearly two hours after sunset, it was getting low enough on the horizon to be difficult to make out again.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS over Hualālai, with Venus at left.

With that, I can finally say that I've seen a proper, honest-to-goodness hairy star, and I have the pictures to prove it. Speaking of, I got those shots with my Pixel 7 Pro; not as good as a professional camera, but it's still remarkable to me just how good the software and hardware in phones has gotten, that it can capture shots like this in low light. (I did set it up on a tripod for stability, but still.)

Overall it was an interesting experience, and I'm glad I made the effort to see it. (Though after sitting out in those winds, maybe I should've gotten up to see it before dawn from Hilo, where it'd be warm[er] and humid instead of frigid and parched…) It should still be visible for a little while, perhaps the next few weeks; the Moon will start rising later and it'll be getting higher above the horizon, which will both make it easier to see, but it's also receding from the Sun which will make it get fainter, so there's a tension between the various effects. The next few days should still be good, though, and I'd recommend making the effort if you haven't seen it. I probably won't head up Maunakea again, but I'll try to keep an eye out for it from Hilo as it rises high enough now to be seen above the western horizon. A hui hou!

Last day at Gemini

Today was my last day at Gemini, officially ending three years since I began there. I found myself leaving with a complex superposition of emotions; sadness at leaving a job I've enjoyed and the friends I made there, yet also a sense of peace that it was finally done, relief that I don't need to wake up to an alarm tomorrow, and – just maybe – the faintest spark of excitement for what comes next. We had a farewell lunch for me (with a cake!) on the lanai, which was nice. Someone found out it was my last day there and said something to the effect of, “Oh! Not taking any vacation days off at the end?” To which I replied (entirely sincerely) that the thought hadn't entered my head when there was still so much work to get done before I left, which our team coordinator told me she got a kick out of afterwards.

The work I've put into DRAGONS won't be coming out very soon; the most recent estimate I heard is that the version containing it might come out September 2025, so it'll be a while before you can be reducing your own near-infrared spectroscopy data using my work. It's somewhat bittersweet to have spent three years working on something and to have to leave before it's even come out for people to use, but I suppose I'm hardly the first programmer to have that happen. And at least it will be released rather than get canceled without ever seeing the light of day, as happens all to often in the programming world. Thankfully things went smoothly and I was able to mostly wrap up what I wanted to and leave the code in a working state; I spent my final three days writing one last test for the GNIRS cross-dispersed data reduction and using it to make one final tweak to make things a bit simpler and more elegant. There are a few remaining issues, but I spent the two weeks prior carefully investigating them and writing down what needs to be done about them (they were a bit too involved for me to start at that point). I know the code's in good hands, at least, though progress will probably be slower now that I've left.

As to what does come next? No idea. I didn't get the Gemini telescope operator position, and since I haven't heard back from the other two places I'm assuming nothing is forthcoming on those fronts. (From conversations I've had since then, ghosting unsuccessful job applicants seems to be the new standard, even after an interview.) With more free time on my hands and no more stress about wrapping things up successfully, I'm planning to go at the job hunting with more vigor. I've got a few astronomical opportunities that seem a pretty close fit that I've either applied to or am planning to apply to (though they're open till the end of the month so I won't hear back for weeks if at all), and I'm also going to be looking around locally outside of astronomy to see what's available. I've got a few leads and contacts, so we'll see how that goes.

But for the next few days, at least, I plan to rest; considering I went straight from submitting my thesis to working at Gemini, I haven't taken more than about two weeks off at a time for over seven years at this point. I have no lack of hobbies I'd like to take up again, new skills I'd like to learn, and other ways to occupy my time outside of job hunting, and I think it's high time for me to take a well-earned (if externally-imposed) break. Maybe I'll get some more posts out of it too, we'll see! A hui hou!