Spellbinding Image Captures Rare Comet, Northern Lights, Milky Way, And Bioluminescence In B.C. (Photos)

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The post Spellbinding Image Captures Rare Comet, Northern Lights, Milky Way, And Bioluminescence In B.C. (Photos) appeared first on Healthy Holistic Living.

It’s been a tough year for everyone. So, it’s only natural we would turn to anything that could brighten our spirits.

In a sense, these photos out of British Columbia, Canada, are a perfect metaphor. Being able to see such breathtaking natural phenomena in a year as dark as this one stands out the way the comet does against the sky!

Comet NEOWISE

David McColm went out into the night on July 24th, 2020. The comet that NASA has named NEOWISE was the closest to the earth that it was going to get. It appeared below the Big Dipper constellation. McColm, who is a landscape and nature photographer, wanted to capture the moment. Luckily, he succeeded–with some absolutely gorgeous images. “What a night! With the potential for some aurora action & Neowise fading day by day, I decided to head up here last night,” he tweeted. “The comet, bioluminescence, the Milky Way, and even a bit of aurora – just wow.”
This was not the only night that David McColm went to photograph Comet NEOWISE. Since as early as July 14th, he had been posting images of the comet onto his Twitter account. Although his earlier images have some aurora, this is the only one with the Milky Way and bioluminescence present. (1)

Comet Neowise in & around Tofino, BC continues to impress … and change from night to night! Here’s to getting out as often as possible to enjoy (and shoot) this stunning & rare deep sky event! @tourism_tofino @HelloBC @StormHour #NEOWISE pic.twitter.com/lvb9g2z8zR

— David McColm (@davidlmccolm) July 18, 2020

Other Comet Images

While McColm’s photo has been attracting attention for the number of incredible phenomena captured within it, there have been other stunning images as well. 19-year-old Liron Gertsman is a nature photographer, as well as a fan of astronomy. Excitingly, when he was in Fraser Valley’s Harrison Lake, in Vancouver, British Columbia, he saw something rare. While photographing, he “was treated to what might be a once-in-a-lifetime event.” Surprisingly, “the Northern Lights showed up,” he says, “‘photobombing’ my comet shot.”

There hasn’t been a comet as visible as Comet NEOWISE since 1997, prior to Gertsman’s birth. “The colours [of the Aurora Borealis] were hard to see,” he says of his photo. “But the pillars were clearly visible dancing across the northern sky.”

It isn’t his only viral comet photo, however. He took a picture of the comet streaking over English Bay, in what he calls “a very ‘Vancouver’ landscape image.” (2)

To be able to see & shoot the stunning comet Neowise over Tofino, BC the last couple of days has been an incredible bucket-list experience & then last night it even came with a wee bit of aurora #justwow @TamithaSkov @tourism_tofino @HelloBC @StormHour #cometNEOWISE pic.twitter.com/v5RobhNwKs

— David McColm (@davidlmccolm) July 14, 2020

Responses To The Comet

Photographer Nicole Howell says that “it’s a very rare opportunity in a lifetime to be able to see something like this.” She had her camera set up to take images over the course of a night, tracking the progress of the comet. Her camera took photographs at a rate of 1,000 images per 18 seconds. “It’s amazing,” she says, “seeing something so clearly and differently than you can see with the naked eye.”

JJ Kavelaars is an astronomer in Canada’s National Research Council. “NEOWISE is about five kilometers across and is a giant snowball” which has “been orbiting around the sun for four billion years. That is now evaporating away,” he says.

NASA explains that a “very close passage by the Sun is cooking the comet’s outermost layers.” However, “the comet has managed to survive this intense roasting.” (3, 4)

The post Spellbinding Image Captures Rare Comet, Northern Lights, Milky Way, And Bioluminescence In B.C. (Photos) appeared first on Healthy Holistic Living.

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