By Dan Hicks

Upon seeing images of your enchanting displays of cometary magnificence, as captured by astrophotographers in the southern hemisphere and the lower latitudes of our northern hemisphere, I have come to realize that neither empathy nor reciprocity are within your celestial sphere of social graces.

For sure, set amid an infinite panoply of seductive southern stars, the preceding image of your heavenly persona over Perth (Australia), is wondrous to behold, but Perth, with its paradisial climate, warmed year-round by gentile sea breezes sweeping in off the Indian Ocean, has no real need of you and your celestial antics.

But here in Cranbrook, going into our third year of a global pandemic, locked in a wintry world of eternal snow shovelling, and commencing our New Year with a dawn temperature of minus 31.0 degrees Centigrade (high –18.10C), we certainly could have used a starry cometary distraction, conveniently situated high in our midwinter evening sky which clears of cloud, from time to time.

Lead image: Comet Leonard performs, south of Perth, Western Australia. Mick B. December 24, 2021 22:00 AWST. Skyandtelescope.org – Editor’s Choice. Nikon D850, Tamron 150-600, Star Tracker; 300 mm, f5.6, ISO 3200, 20 sec.

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