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.
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
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!
Here is my first Comet ISON image. It was low in the east in lots of light pollution, but I managed to get enough shots to make a reasonable image. I had to cut down a small tree the afternoon before taking this to get a clear shot.
A new film is out with the best high quality images available of Earth and Space taken by various space probes, professional observatories and amateurs. Maarten Roos, a planetary scientist, is the filmmaker and William Zeitler is the musical soundtrack composer.
Here’s a video excerpt from the DVD:
Below are a couple of stills from their website. The first image is a NASA/JPL image of Comet Hartley 2 from a spacecraft and the one below it, (by yours truly,) is an image from Earth.
Quote from their website:
“Do you look up on a clear night and gaze in wonder on the stars deep into the Universe? They provoke inspiration and awe, a moment of calm, quiet, and peace in our hectic world. Serene Universe combines the awe of the Universe with these healing moments of serenity. It is a unique one hour film experience in which images and music are intimately intertwined. Starting on our beautiful planet, Serene Universe takes you slowly above the Earth, into the Solar System, the Galaxy, Deep Space and finally your inner space.”
August 20th was probably the last time I was able to shoot Comet Panstarrs before it fades below 7th magnitude. I took all my gear to a spot where the comet was not blocked by trees, like at home. Unfortunately, the LP was bad and transparency was not up to par for this night. I had to shoot with only 1 minute sub-images to get around that. I was also shooting right into a huge light dome from Lafayette, LA to my northeast. I thought I would have had better conditions, but unfortunately they were marginal, at best.
I woke up at 3:45 AM to go out and image Comet Panstarrs on Friday, April 12, 2013. I should have got up at 3:00 AM instead. I didn’t think I would have problems in the field and I cut it way too close to the start of twilight.
What held me up is my mount wasn’t tracking at all at first and I had to haggle with it quite a bit before I could shoot some images. By that time, it was already 5:30 AM and the start of astronomical twilight was upon me. Not quite sure what went wrong.
I shot this with my Canon 200mm telephoto at F/2.8. Its only about 7 minutes worth of integration. I was hoping for 3 times that amount. Oh, well…
Ok, I managed to get a shot of Comet Panstarrs despite the moon and lingering twilight. At least you see the comet. Somewhat. lol
It was a little difficult to shoot images and entertain visitors simultaneously. Its a long story, but suffice it to say that by the time I was finally shooting images, the comet was already deep in the muck. In fact, it was there by the time it got dark enough to shoot long exposures.
Oh, well… at least I didn’t scratch. 🙂
I struck out trying to image Comet Panstarrs on Sunday evening, March 24, 2013. It was just too short of a time to find it in bright twilight, bright moonlight and with its low altitude. However, I tried something to redeem myself while I still had the equipment setup. I shot the Pleiades with a bunch of 15 second unguided exposures. I managed to catch them and Comet C/2012 L2 (Linear) in the shot. This is cropped down quite a bit to just the cluster and comet.
By the way, the comet is in the lower right. Its that small greenish smudge. 🙂
It was predicted to be clear on March 20, 2013 when I took the above picture. However, a low bank of clouds moved in at the last moment and messed up my plans to shoot Comet Pan-STARRS with the Canon 200mm F/2.8 telephoto lens for a wide-angle view. The mount wasn’t tracking very well, either and I wasted quite a few shots because of that issue. So, the only good image of the comet came through a crack in the clouds.