Catch a comet!

DJ-S1 · January 5, 2007

It's not often a comet comes along that is bright enough for the average Joe to photograph. It may be tricky, but I bet a Dgrinner or 2 could do it. Details here.

gus · January 5, 2007

Im onto it.

I remember seeing bennetts comet when i was 6 & we would be up at 4am to go & get the cows in for milking. It was quite amazing to see...i think its only seen ever 30 000 years from what i can find.

I'll see what i can get with this new one...thanks for pointing it out. I usuall watch for these on diff sites but i missed this one.

Skippy · January 5, 2007

DJ-S1 wrote:

It's not often a comet comes along that is bright enough for the average Joe to photograph. It may be tricky, but I bet a Dgrinner or 2 could do it. Details here.

Thanks for the Info, I book marked it too

I work silly hours so I'm not sure I will get to see it, but I do appreciate you posting the information for others on the Forum ....... Skippy

DJ-S1 · January 10, 2007

Check this out, it is pretty bright -

Comet McNaught has become the brightest comet in 30 years, according to the International Comet Quarterly at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Tonight (Wednesday, Jan. 10) may be the best chance for Northern Hemisphere viewers to spot it.
But this comet remains a challenge. You need a very clear view of a very flat horizon and good sky conditions. Look for it moments after sunset.
At magnitude -2, McNaught is brighter than was Hale-Bopp in 1995.

Magnitudes of brightness are a strange scale - magnitude +6 is the faintest thing you can see unaided in a very dark location. The brighter the object, the lower the number - negative numbers are brighter still. So at magnitude -2, this is fairly good. For comparison Venus is -3.8 or so.

It's been cloudy here for days but maybe I can still catch it in the next few days...

davidryan · January 10, 2007

DJ-S1 wrote:

It's not often a comet comes along that is bright enough for the average Joe to photograph. It may be tricky, but I bet a Dgrinner or 2 could do it. Details here.

How come I can't see the pic? I'm confuzzled.

DJ-S1 · January 10, 2007

This thread is useless without pics.

Anyone catch it yet?

gus · January 11, 2007

DJ-S1 wrote:

This thread is useless without pics.

Anyone catch it yet?

First week of cloud in 3 bloody years !!!!!

gus · January 11, 2007

Ok here is the handout guys...aussie viewing mentioned about half way down the page.

Seneca · January 11, 2007

Hoping the skies clear up so I can see Comet McNaught tonight. Thanks for the information.

greenpea · January 11, 2007

The forcast calls for clear skys in Seattle tonight. I think I'll try and sneak out of work early so I can be ready for a sunset comet pic!

Here's what our local paper has to say http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003519521_comet11m0.html

EDIT:
Then again, I just saw this post and he did that shot with a 400mm + a 2x TC! Unless I can go out and rent a lens, there is little chance of me being able to get anything more than a highly cropped dot.

DJ-S1 · January 11, 2007

Well, I just saw it - about 5:15-ish here. No photos, I am at work and had a terrible viewing location with high trees. I actually didn't expect to be able to see at all, but at the last minute the clouds dissipated a bit.

It was pretty cool, but only lasted a minute or two in my bad vantage point before it slid behind the trees. The tail is longer than I thought it would be, maybe the length of your thumb held at arm's length.

Give it a go, even a highly cropped shot is better than what I got - no shot.:D

TylerW · January 11, 2007

Wow. I hadn't bet on it beig close enough to get it with standard telephotos. I'd figure on shooting it with 2000mm mirror telescopes and having to track it with a motorized head. Very cool.

greenpea · January 11, 2007

Here is my attempt at Comet McNaught using my cheap-o 70-300mm...

It was a beautiful night for comet viewing in Seattle. I was surprised to go up to my local little viewpoint park and find literally hundreds of people with telescopes, cameras, and binoculars all pointed at the sky.

I had my camera with the cheap lens, and a 4" refractor telescope. The people who were best set up for viewing were using basic binoculars.

DJ-S1 · January 11, 2007

Hey that's awesome! Good job, I was hoping someone would have good weather for it. Thanks for posting -

I think maybe tomorrow is about it for us northern hemisphere types to try, then it's up to you southies to give it a go!

DoctorIt · January 11, 2007

Another dgrinner got in from a plane!

ajgauthier · January 11, 2007

great shot!

greenpea wrote:

Here is my attempt at Comet McNaught using my cheap-o 70-300mm...

It was a beautiful night for comet viewing in Seattle. I was surprised to go up to my local little viewpoint park and find literally hundreds of people with telescopes, cameras, and binoculars all pointed at the sky.

I had my camera with the cheap lens, and a 4" refractor telescope. The people who were best set up for viewing were using basic binoculars.

nice shot! I couldn't go out tonight in Tucson to see it, but will try tomorrow and hope we get it back in a few weeks after it rounds the sun.

I posted my pic from an airplane from yesterday in another thread...I hadn't seen this one.

Adrienne

DoctorIt · January 11, 2007

ajgauthier wrote:

I posted my pic from an airplane from yesterday in another thread...I hadn't seen this one.

Adrienne

Pssst, look up at my previous post, I posted a link for ya.

ajgauthier · January 11, 2007

pssssttt...

DoctorIt wrote:

Pssst, look up at my previous post, I posted a link for ya.

psssssst...I think we were posting at the same time

(thanks for linking, I'm on Nyquil and hadn't figured to do that right away...)

Adrienne

Dee · January 11, 2007

I saw the comet
Now that I know where to look, I'll try again. It was just SO windy and cold. I was leaning against the car. It was too windy for the tripod!

We really should have waited right after the sunset, but Ed wanted to go shopping. We then went back to the beach and while driving there I said, "I see the comet." Ed said, "where?" and I pointed. "That's not a comet" said Ed. Well, I photographed it once we got parked, enlarged the heck out of it on my LCD and he had to agree, it was a comet!

The car, signs, everything was being blown in the wind. Much as I wanted to do a good job, I was too miserable. I tried some when I got home, but then it was so dark the exposure was too long. I think if I had a decent telephoto lens I would have spent some more time with it. I'm really glad to see pictures other people have gotten of the comet that are so much better than mine.

ajgauthier · January 11, 2007

hmmm...
hi Dee,

great effort! I'm wondering if you snapped Venus though? Venus is superbright. I don't think that's a comet tail (to lead you to believe it was McNaught)...it looks like a reflection/blur from Venus. I'm guessing the exposure wasn't too long b/c the rest of the image is grainy (?) If it were the comet...you'd totally be able to see the magnificently large tail with your eyes...no mistaking it.

Also --- the tail would be going up to the right...not to the left, and it's lower than it was last night. I'm just comparing your image to the one above. Also - it looks like what you have it to the left of the sunset, where McNaught will appear to the right. McNaught was probably hiding in those clouds on the horizon

Hmmm...think ya got Venus. However, you can still go out tomorrow and try...but it will be even lower and closer to sunset. I'd be set up just as the sun was setting, and after it completely clears the horizon you can look for McNaught. It's fairly large...the tail is as long as the tip of my pinky finger nail (held at arm's length)

They have a gallery here you can compare your photo to:

http://www.spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_mcnaught_page4.htm

They have finder charts on there too...

Adrienne

mbz · January 11, 2007

Dee, whatrver it is it is not the comet.
Here's the picture I took tonight 1/11/07 from San Francisco

ajgauthier · January 11, 2007

niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice

mbz wrote:

Dee, whatrver it is it is not the comet.
Here's the picture I took tonight 1/11/07 from San Francisco

super nice! it's not just "a comet", it's really "a scene"

I'm hoping to get out in the morning tomorrow or evening...though it'll be tight to the sunset/rise.

Adrienne

Dee · January 11, 2007

Oh Drat!
Well, thanks for setting me straight! So Ed was right after all? :cry

I wonder what would cause that blurry part after Venus, if that is what it is... the air was awfully full of salt haze...

DoctorIt · January 12, 2007

ajgauthier wrote:

psssssst...I think we were posting at the same time (thanks for linking, I'm on Nyquil and hadn't figured to do that right away...)

Adrienne

any good dreams? Nyquil gives me some seriously screwed up dreams!

mbz · January 12, 2007

Dee wrote:

Well, thanks for setting me straight! So Ed was right after all? :cry

I wonder what would cause that blurry part after Venus, if that is what it is... the air was awfully full of salt haze...

Thank you, Adrienne and Dee.
Dee, I do not think it was Venus. It could have been a meteor. What did you see visually. How long have you watched it for?

Dee · January 12, 2007

The mystery object in the sky

mbz wrote:

Thank you, Adrienne and Dee.
Dee, I do not think it was Venus. It could have been a meteor. What did you see visually. How long have you watched it for?

Yes, I'm very curious as to what I did see. I guess it was sort of in the position of Venus, but I didn't think Venus moved that quickly. Ed thought it might be a satellite or the space station, but I have no idea what they look like.

My first photo was taken at 5:59 p.m. and the last one was at 6:21. A while later when I went back out to look I didn't see the object, but I had trees in front of me.

I wish I had a compass, but I was facing the ocean and the object was slightly at the south end of the beach at Rockaway. I can post an overview showing part of the rocks at the southern end of Rockaway in relationship to the object (I cropped the photo)

I was shooting from 1/2 to 1 second, if that helps.

The object was moving from south to north, and toward the horizon line.

DoctorIt · January 12, 2007

Dee wrote:

Yes, I'm very curious as to what I did see.

maybe it was...

:s85

Dee · January 12, 2007

Could be!

DoctorIt wrote:

maybe it was...

:s85

I'm going to try tonight to see if I see the same thing or not... I don't know the transit of Venus, maybe it was Venus with a tail?

In any case, armed with tripod this time, the wind is down a little bit (but not much) I'm going to try again. The thing we have to watch for is haze or clouds close to the horizon at sunset.

According to what I just read on Space.com we were too late for the comet anyway. I have no idea what it was. Hope somebody can enlighten me!

gus · January 12, 2007

Dee wrote:

According to what I just read on Space.com we were too late for the comet anyway. I have no idea what it was. Hope somebody can enlighten me!

I am reading the opposite of this Dee...best photos are in a few days when (if) it makes it out from behind the sun. It will be a lot higher in the sky & visable for up to 45 mins after sunset thus a darker sky.

ajgauthier · January 12, 2007

mbz wrote:

Thank you, Adrienne and Dee.
Dee, I do not think it was Venus. It could have been a meteor. What did you see visually. How long have you watched it for?

I went back to look at where ISS was yesterday around that time, but Heaven's Above was no help. It did sort-of look like a meteor, but not quite. Could have been an Iridium flare too...that's what they look like (big bright end and then a tail dimming off) If it was a plane catching a huge reflection from the Sun, it would have been more uniform. Maybe you caught a few things (Venus plus a plane)? I'm just curious about the top part of the 'tail', looks kinda-rainbow-y (like a sundog sometimes does)...so I wonder if there was an ice crystal structure in the clouds going on to cause some optical phenomenon (?)

Venus wouldn't move that fast in 1 second...a 1 second exposure just makes it look oval instead of a nice 'sphere' (though I don't know the current phase).

Interesting, no doubt!

Adrienne

DJ-S1 · January 12, 2007

gus wrote:

I am reading the opposite of this Dee...best photos are in a few days when (if) it makes it out from behind the sun. It will be a lot higher in the sky & visable for up to 45 mins after sunset thus a darker sky.

mmm, I think that's just for you folks down under Gus. I'm not sure it's coming back for us up here above the equator.

Catch a comet!

Comments