NEOWISE Comet over Arizona Desert Kids T-Shirt

View Additional Comments

Hide Additional Comments

Post a Comment

The NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) comet is seen in the northwestern sky above the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson, Arizona on a partly cloudy night as the crescent moon sets in the sky. Saguaro cacti, monarchs of the Sonoran Desert, dot this southwestern landscape beneath a magical night sky and stars.

NEOWISE is a comet with a super elliptical orbit that, like most comets, swings in from the way outer reaches of our solar system and passed near earth only every several thousand years. The summer of 2020 provided an opportunity to see this comet in the early morning and evening skies during July. Unfortunately, with it being monsoon season, it was impossible for me to find the right time to capture this celestial object as it was very cloudy every evening. So, I decided to paint it instead. This setting is somewhere to the east of urban Tucson - perhaps Sabino Canyon, or somewhere in the Tanque Verde Valley. Pusch Peak and Mount Kimb...

Tucson based photographer and artist Chance Kafka is a native of Laramie, Wyoming, and grew up in the small community of Wheatland, before returning to Laramie for college. He took an interest into photography at a young age, photographing clouds, sunsets, and landscapes. At age 17, he won 1st Place in the Platte County Fair photography competition in 3 out of 5 categories as the only entrant to win more than one category. Following this local success, he worked as a feature writer and photographer for the Platte County Record Times while still in high school. His articles and feature photos garnered him acclaim across the region which inspired him to pursue journalism as a degree in college. Chance served as a teaching assistant for a...