Posts tagged 'Comet'

Observing Report 12th-13th September 2018 (Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner)

Posted by on September 14th 2018 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports
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It's been over half a decade since I imaged a comet and came away with anything half-decent. Here's my attempt at 21P/Giacobini-Zinner which, from here, is currently visible low in the Eastern sky in the pre-dawn hours:

 

Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, 13th September 2018.
Subs: 27 light @ 300s, dark and bias frames, sensor -20C.
QHY10 on the C80ED-R frac, guided with PHD.

There are some other pics still to process - Uranus and some of its moons - so I might post the results sometime soon if I think they're worth showing.

Observing Report 12-13th November 2013 (Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1))

Posted by on November 17th 2013 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports
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It's been a long time since I had a decent observing session - most nights that I've been up in the obsy recently have start well but clouded over before any imaging could begin. Not so last week, though, when there was a run of clear frosty nights, perfect for a bit of comet-chasing.

It's shaping up to be a good season for comets - there are now four of them rising in the East before dawn, promising to put on a decent show in the coming months. After a bit of visual comet-spotting I had a pop at imaging Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1), here are a couple of versions of a half-hour exposure guided on the comet:

Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1), 13th November 2013.
Subs: 1 light @ 1800s, no darks or bias frames, ISO800.
1000D on the 6" R-C, guided with PHD.

Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1), 13th November 2013.
Subs: 1 light @ 1800s, no darks or bias frames, ISO800. Levels tweaked to show the tails.
1000D on the 6" R-C, guided with PHD.

There are some other pics still to process so I might post the results sometime soon if I think they're worth showing.

I'm hoping to bag some pics of the other three comets sometime during the next few evenings if the weather decides to play along. Suffice to say that I'm not holding my breath!

Observing Report 1st-2nd April 2013 (Another pop at Pan-STARRS)

Posted by on April 4th 2013 in Astrostuff, My vids, Observing Reports, Pics
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Same Comet, same conditions, same tree, same faff, different night:

Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4).
Subs: 25 light @ 30s, darks, bias frames, ISO1600.
1000D on the 6" R-C, unguided.

The main difference is that this time there's a time-lapse movie. I created it from 100 frames, each representing 30 seconds of exposure and 5 seconds of "gap", so that's nigh on an hour crammed into this 10-second clip:

Observing Report 29th March 2013 (A quick and dirty Pan-STARRS)

Posted by on March 30th 2013 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports
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Managed a few binocular glimpses of Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4) between the clouds last night, then I got to wondering if it was sufficiently north and high for me to be able to train the obsy-based telescope on it.

After a bit of a faff moving the roof a good foot further along than usual, and then removing the screen that keeps out the glare from the retirement-home up the road, the only obstruction was the neighbour's Japanese Maple. I couldn't cut it down and it wouldn't bend out of the way so I decided to just pretend it wasn't there and take the shots through it anyway. After all, if this hobby was easy, everybody would be doing it!

Despite the tree, the light-pollution haze near the horizon, the comet's low altitude, the glare from several 500W halogen burglar-helpers and a mere 15-minute window of opportunity when the comet was visible between houses, the result's not so bad after all:

Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4).
Subs: 6 light @ 60s, darks, no bias frames, ISO800.
1000D on the 6" R-C, unguided.

Observing Report 13th March 2013 Part 2 (Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4))

Posted by on March 16th 2013 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports
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As promised, some more pics from Wednesday evening's Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4) observing session:

Moon and Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4), 13th March 2013.
Nikon D50, 35mm prime lens, 0.8s @ f/2, ISO 200, static tripod.

Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4), 13th March 2013.
Nikon D50, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, 5s @ f/7.1, ISO 800, static tripod.

Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4), 13th March 2013.
Nikon D50, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, 10s @ f/7.1, ISO 800, static tripod.

Moon with Earthshine, 13th March 2013.
Nikon D50, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, 1s @ f/7.1, ISO 800, static tripod.

We're hoping to bag some more pics sometime during the next few evenings if the weather decides to play along.

Observing Report 13th March 2013 (Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4))

Posted by on March 14th 2013 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports
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I managed to get away for a couple of hours around sundown last night, it was the first clear(ish) evening for a while and the first chance we'd had to have a look at Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4). Finding it was an interesting experience - too soon after sunset and the skies were still too light, and later when the skies had darkened the comet was so close to the horizon that it stood a chance of being lost in the murk of haze, cloud and light-pollution.

Persistence was the key. Eventually the bank of low snow-cloud moved away and revealed the target. It's not visible with the naked-eye yet during these conditions but it's an impressive sight through 10x50 binoculars. The 70-300 lens on the D50 picked it out quite easily.

Here's one of many pics from the evening, I'll post a few more later:

Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4).
Nikon D50, 70-300 lens @ 300mm, 5s @ f/7.1, ISO 800, static tripod.
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