Another version of ISON. Still working on the color on this one.
Comet ISON on October 26, 2013
Category Archives: Comets
Comet ISON Growing in Size – Nearly Doubled in 10 Days!
Ten days ago on October 15, 2013, I posted an image here on my blog that I took showing Comet ISON and how it looked at the time. Today, October 25, 2013, I want to show how Comet ISON has grown in size and brightness. Please note that all the equipment used to take the images and the image size are all the same.
Continue reading Comet ISON Growing in Size – Nearly Doubled in 10 Days!
Comet C/2012 X1 (Linear) on October 24, 2013
My first image of the “exploding” Comet Linear. Sometime before October 20th, 2013, it is believed that the comet went from below magnitude 14 to magnitude 8.5 in an “explosive” outburst. This is reminiscent of Comet Holmes back in October of 2007. In Comet Holmes case, the comet reached naked eye visibility soon after the outburst started. C/2012 X1 is still a long way away from that level of brightness and is not expected to get anywhere close to naked eye visibility until, if the trend continues, February of 2014.
Comet 2P/Encke on October 24, 2013
While waiting for Comet Linear to rise into position, I shot 24 minutes worth of subs of Comet Encke. ISO 400 did not go as deep as I thought it would. I’ll have to shoot this one again with higher ISO settings or longer exposures. BTW, I have another version with the stars frozen instead of streaked:
Comet ISON on October 24, 2013
I had setup the scope to catch Comet Linear, so ISON was not really my target this time. It was in the trees most of the time. However, there was a short window where it was in the clear and I managed to get 9 minutes of data on it. Not enough for an eye-popping image but enough to document its progress since my last session with it.
Comet ISON, Mars and Regulus – October 16, 2013
In this shot, I rotated the camera to a portrait orientation and managed to fit all three objects in one frame. I was not sure I could get this to work since my scope didn’t have the clearance to have the camera in this position. But, I managed to figure out a way.
Continue reading Comet ISON, Mars and Regulus – October 16, 2013
Comet ISON on October 15, 2013
I cleared more of my eastern sky of blocking tree branches and waited until another clear morning. On Tuesday, October 15th, 2013, I got my chance to image Comet ISON again. It looks larger to me than it was a week ago. I used the same sub exposure time but with more sub-images.
Comet Lovejoy on October 12, 2013
I tried shooting some sub-images of Comet ISON on Saturday morning, Oct 12th, but the fog and murk near the horizon was too much and the comet was barely registering. So, I switched to Comet Lovejoy, which was much higher in the sky. With the dawn quickly approaching, I went with one minute exposures and managed to get 24 good ones before twilight put a stop to my efforts. Twenty-four subs gives me enough noise reduction to make it worth while.
Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1) on October 9, 2013
Just before dawn broke on Wednesday, October 9th, 2013 and put a stop to imaging the night sky, Comet Lovejoy cleared the trees in my backyard. I was able to get 20 minutes worth of data on it before the sub-images were too blue from the twilight to use for stacking.
Continue reading Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1) on October 9, 2013
Comet Encke on October 8, 2013
It is somewhat unusual to have 3 relatively bright comets all in the morning sky at the same time. This one, I think, is the brightest and the other two, Comet Lovejoy and Comet ISON, are close behind. Anyway, I managed to get data on all three comet in two mornings of imaging. Its a comet hunter’s dream come true!