Saturday, June 12, 2021

Astronomy

 The problem with comets, and also the good thing about comets, is that they go away for a while before they come blazing back. When they've just left, you keep thinking about them and all the recent experiences you've had together. It feels hot and fiery and intense. 

After a while, once they grow more distant, you don't think about them quite so frequently or with quite such passion. You send the occasional message, but when the respons time is long that isn't enough to fan the flames either. And so the comet grows fainter and fainter... But it still only takes a single "ping" to remind you of all the excitement and fun you've had.

At some point the comet's orbit has reached it's apocenter, and will start it's journey back towards you. (Apocenter is the point on its trajectory where an unspecified object, like a comet, is the furthest from the body it's circulating. Apogee is used to describe this when something is circling the Earth, aphelion is used when describing something orbiting the Sun. And yes, I had to look it up. Knew there was a term for it. Pericenter is the opposite of apocenter, by the way.)

Anyhow, yes, the comet will be coming back around again. That doesn't mean he's close by, no he's still extremely far away.. But for every interaction you can tell that the comet is approaching. And that.. THAT is something to look forward to. 

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