Hi all, here is tonight try at comet Lovejoy= 4x8 minutes with 5D MK II at ISO 6400 ICNR on, using Takahashi 160mm F3.3 Astrograph. It is listed at magnitude 17.5 . Showing tail of 1 degree.
According to Starry Night, Comet Lovejoy is approx 212.5 million km from the earth and 270.8 million km from the Sun. It is still able to put on a show.
You got the April S and T already Terry, it will take a few months to get over here. Yes it is supposed to be in the US version also and Astronomy mag.
The diameter of the Astrograph is really helping over the 77mm diameter 200mm fl lens. I think you will be able to get the last image with the hyperstar Terry.
Hi all, here is last night image 22-2-12 = 12 x 4-6 minute exp with astro 40D at ISO 1600 and Takahashi astrograph. The first is a full size crop of the comet showing some distant galaxies down to magnitude 16. http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/a7dd5aa0.jpg
Thanks for the link Terry, as I do not get the US version anymore. I appreciate it.
I have attached tonights image of your comet, it is 9x6 minute exposures with astro 40D at ISO 1600 and Tak. Astrograph. The comet has reached magnitude 18. The galaxy in front of the comet's head is PGC 16445, magnitude 16.7 .
it has been an amazing two months chasing the tail of this Great Comet! I am sure all of us wouldn't have believed that anyone would still be imaging the little comet that could after two months. Thanks to the sterling work of those who caught the comet bug in a big way, most notably Lester, Rob and Justin to name but a few, I was able to plot the comet as seen in photographs taken from New Zealand & Australia from my first sighting on December 19th, 2011 through to Lester's image of February 21st, 2012.
The two major gaps are due to the full moon.
I created a wide field chart from The Sky version 6. Turned it into a B&W image and sketched on the impressions of the comet from numerous contributions to this site and others, using pencil. I then inverted the image colours to produce a white on black picture.
The hardest part was deciding where the tail actually ended. This is a perennial problem for all cometary observers. I have decided that if I am uncertain then I will not show it extending beyond my certainty. The hardest section to determine was when Comet Lovejoy crossed the Milky Way.
Anyway this is just my little momento of a memorable period in comet history for you all to enjoy.
Hi Coops, that is a very nice way of remembering and seeing the progress of comet Lovejoy over that period. No doubt it would have taken quite a length of time to do.
funnily enough, given my chart scale, it was actually your last few images that were the hardest to plot due to a lack of faint stars in the area on my chart. Having said that I am happy that it is a fairly accurate representation overall.
One thing to mention for the casual viewer. It may seem like the tail had shrunken just after the full moon in January as the comet passed in front of the LMC, but this is wrong. The shorter lengths were probably due to the fact that we didn't expect the tail to still be so long at that stage and photographed accordingly. Once it was realized what we were dealing with, your good-self, Rob & Justin worked on getting the wider shots needed to show this, for which we are ever thankful!
One thing to mention for the casual viewer. It may seem like the tail had shrunken just after the full moon in January as the comet passed in front of the LMC, but this is wrong. The shorter lengths were probably due to the fact that we didn't expect the tail to still be so long at that stage and photographed accordingly. Once it was realized what we were dealing with, your good-self, Rob & Justin worked on getting the wider shots needed to show this, for which we are ever thankful!
Interesting point Ian, and it applies before & after January too. Earlier on the fainter end of the tail got lost in the brighter parts of the Milky Way so we don't know its full extent then. Same applied in late Jan - images showed it extending into the Milky Way but not out through to the other side out of it. Now with it being very faint we're only imaging a 'bright' part near the head, at fairly high zooms. But seeing as I got a faint trace for nearly 5 deg (to the edge of my frame) a week or so back with very limited gear then you can bet the tail is still quite long. But it takes so long now to get the necessary exposure times on the 'bright' bit you simply haven't got time to continue imaging narrow fields down the tail.
I should add that in all the recent DSLR shots, the tail appears to end near the edge of the frames - this is a lens/camera vignetting issue, nothing to do with tail continuing or not continuing on. Doesn't matter how you frame the comet it doesn't seem to quite make it to the edge!
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Holy Schmokes!! Extreme cometary imaging. !!!
