Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy

Comet C/2104 Q2 Lovejoy has been putting on quite a show for observers in the northern hemisphere for the last month, and as the moon begins to wane there are again a few hours after sunset to observe this beautiful comet.  I had not taken a good look at Lovejoy since the last new moon weekend when I was camping with friends in Portal, AZ and the comet was very near the Pleiades in Taurus.  Tonight it was very near the bright star Almach in the constellation Andromeda and made for a very pretty sight in both binoculars and in my TEC 140mm refractor.

I recently acquired my first full frame DSLR, a Canon 6D, and below is a 120 second exposure of the comet at ISO 800 taken through the telescope.  I had to stretch the image a bit to bring out the tail, but it was visible with averted vision in the eyepiece.

16 Candles

This was an exciting week on the home front, as Thursday marked Ian's 16th birthday!  The years are definitely flowing by quickly and I am thankful that we have so many great memories, from what feels like such a short period of time.  Over the past 16 years, we have been very fortunate to be able to take trips nearly every year.  Just thinking of the trips we have taken, we have visited: Arizona, the Navajo Nation, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington (and the San Juan Islands), Colorado, Utah, North Carolina, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC and Hawaii...as well as Mexico, Puerto Rico, and St. Kitts...I am sure I am missing some.  I can't imagine where our adventures together over the next 16 years will take us, but I am looking forward to them tremendously.

Just a couple pictures from one of the celebrations we have had this week are below (hey, when you are 16 you get to celebrate a few times!)...with the disclaimer that I just purchased a new camera and I do not have a flash...and as I did not prepare to take the pictures they are also handheld which is a challenge in low light.

Now, if someone could help me figure out, how I have a 16 year old son, when I am only 29 years old myself...