You can often find East Village resident Felton Davis stargazing on Second Avenue and East Third Street. However, he had to travel down to Battery Park last Wednesday to see the comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS.
He shared some photos and his story with us.
"It was a cold night, with a strong wind coming down over the Hudson, that made long-exposure photos very difficult. Comet Panstarrs 2011 last appeared about 100 million years ago, during the age of the dinosaurs. As it came around the sun last week, it was visible first in Buenos Aires and New Zealand, but took its time arriving in the northern hemisphere."
"As an amateur photographer, I have to confess that I was not able to get everything into one good photo. I could take a picture of the sunset with the Statue of Liberty on the left, and the crescent moon in the center. I could take a pretty good close-up of the moon. And of course every time the seagulls swooped over, I thought they must have sighted it. After all, birds live in the sky, and so must know whenever something unusual is about to appear!"
The comet is stil not visible here...
The comet is above the clouds... (That is Felton using the arrow!)
And at last.
"The comet finally appeared below the moon, with a tail extending up and slightly to the left. Only timed exposures of at least three seconds revealed the tail. It will rise higher in the days to come, but also grow fainter as it recedes from us on its long journey to the edge of the solar system."
