that is exactly what I was hoping my heads-up would lead to! Beautiful. Very well done Colin!
I'm picking for you tomorrow the head of the comet will be sitting on top of the trees. Leaves my pics for dead! Hope to do a lot better in the coming days. You have definitely set the benchmark mate.
Hi Colin and welcome.
What an awesome image to come into IIS with.
It sends a shiver up my spine and takes me back to the view of comet Mcnaught at the Ice In Space Astrocamp 2007.
I will continue to look every morning, in the hope of the clouds clearing !
Newbie here . Haven't seen any reports from WA, so thought I'd chime in.
After reading Ian Cooper's post I decided to drive south to the Mandurah Esturary around 2 am for a look. Light pollution is pretty low down there. I took 2 cameras, 1 for timelapsing and the other stills. I started taking images around 2:50 WST. At around 3:10 the first hint of tail appeared above the trees and by 3:15 I could see it visually. It stayed in clear view (non averted vision) from then until around 4:10 (deep twilight). An awesome sight.
I also attempted a 24mm timelapse of the whole event. Haven't looked at that yet, but if it's any good I'll post it here.
If you're lucky enough to have clear skies tomorrow, I urge you to go out before the onset of astronomical twilight. If the comet is anything like it was this morning you won't be disappointed.
Thanks to Ian for the heads up.
Colin, I posted your image with a link to this post on Google+ and it's been re-shared by Fraser Cain, Phil Plaitt and many others - it's going viral!
Thanks Mike and everyone else for the kind words and welcome.
I've processed the timelapse. I thought it would be interesting to see in one sequence the change in comet appearance as twilight progressed. Hope you enjoy it.
I've processed the timelapse. I thought it would be interesting to see in one sequence the change in comet appearance as twilight progressed. Hope you enjoy it. http://vimeo.com/34007626
Great stuff. The still image is exquisite. The time lapse shows how hard it is to see once the sky has brightened. You have put the 5D2 to very good use :-) Interestingly, Rob McNaught's iconic images of 2006 P1 were made with a 5D.
Brilliant pic and video, thanks Collin.
Australian Sky & Telescope have just put the video on facebook.
As for the pic, it's been doing the rounds today since it was first posted here. Everyone's sharing!
Oops nearly forgot - and what an entrance YOU made!
Right, have picked a couple of spots to go viewing tomorrow morning. Both have clear views towards the SE. Adelaide is expected to be clear so should have no issues with the weather. Just have to make sure I wake up when the alarm goes off
There are two ways to plot the path of a comet, RA/Dec and Alt/Az.
RA/dec shows the position with respect to the stars.
Alt/Az shows the altitude with respect to the horizon.
Attached are SkyMapPro maps for both methods, looking SSE at 5am AEDT from latitude 29S.
The 6% phase Moon will be 20 degrees north of Comet Lovejoy tomorrow morning.
to IceInSpace.
. Haven't seen any reports from WA, so thought I'd chime in.
Brilliant pic and video, thanks Collin.
