Comet Lemmon widefield

[gregbradley]

I've taken quite a lot of DSLR shots and also CDK17 of this comet. This is a single shot 45 seconds, ISO 6400, Nikon D800E and Nikkor 180mm F2.8ED lens.

Mounted on a Vixen Polarie.

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/148689521

Greg.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Amazing how much you squeezed out of that 45 sec exposure Greg!

Nice framing too, whats your FOV?

Cheers,

Justin.

[gregbradley]

Yes I did squeeze a lot out of it didn't I?
:lol:
The D800E is about the same sensitivity as my Proline 16803 albeit noisier as its not cooled. It would be tempting to have a modified version to pump it up even more but its too expensive for that.

Not sure how wide the FOV is. About 6 degrees?
I was happy to be able to get round stars at 180mm focal lenght with the little Polarie. Luckily the Nikkor 180mm is a fairly light lens. I really like this little Polarie.

I also have about 30 of these same images to stack so that will be another version. I also have a time lapse of it and a series with an 85mm F1.8 lens at F2. The comet was noticeably brighter last night - about 15% brighter and the tail is becoming more visible. Another few weeks and it could be quite bright.

Greg.

[Shark Bait]

I like your wide field image of this comet. I am keen to visit dark skies tonight and observe it through the 12". Just waiting for the clouds to clear.....

It looks like Starry Night is not too far off the mark regarding tail length.

[orestis]

Great widefield Greg,

It shows the true extent of the faint tail, I didn't realise it was so long.

Thanks for posting
Orestis:thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

I think its worthwhile because we have a new moon weekend and there's no guarantee of clear skies later on. These events have a tendency to have a window of opportunity that can easily close and then you kick yourself for not doing it earlier.



Cheers. I have some 17 inch CDK images that required a 2 frame moaic to capture the whole tail. Its quite long and appears to be brightening although still quite faint.

Greg.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Unintentional pun there.:D

Cheers,

Justin.

[DavidNg]

Now, really there is a comet on the sky. With the treetop in the picture, the view as if seeing with naked eye. Good work as always Greg

[Larryp]

Excellent image!

[h0ughy]

wow what a result! thats excellent

[colinmlegg]

Fantastic Greg!

I'm hoping to do a similar shot (timelapse) around the 14th, 15th when it's near SMC and 47 Tuc. I'm planning to use a 6D at iso6400 and 100mm at f/2.8, 10 secs. I'll have to stack 4 or 5 of those to get close to your image. Hopefully it keeps getting brighter. Amazing little comet.

[gregbradley]

Thanks very much David.



Cheers Larry. I have 23 exposures of this I am stacking to see if it improves it much. The D800 files are so large DSS crashed each time. So I've resized them all and having another go.



Thanks Dave!



Thanks Colin. I did a time lapse as well. Its ready to post but that last step of converting it to a video file is failing. I made the time lapse shorter and perhaps it'll go this time. I think I am needing a more powerful computer soon. It looks quite good with some clouds moving past and it slowly drifts down towards the horizon whilst spinning around the SCP.

Yes near 47 Tuc would be amazing. That will be a great imaging target. Hopefully the weather is clear then. It seemed about 15% brighter the last night I imaged it. The tail was easier to see.

Greg.

[jjjnettie]

I could have sworn I saw it naked eye last night.
And through the binos a faint whisp of a tail.

Nice shot Greg. :)

[Matt Wastell]

Outstanding widefield!

[Solar]

Great stuff Greg.
What a great result for 45 seconds.
I have seen it once only as all the bad weather is south of me. :(

[colinmlegg]

Greg, what's your source file size, format and conversion software? MpegStreamClip or X264 are good free converters.

[RickS]

Nice shot, Greg!

[pmrid]

I am wondering how well a conventional equatorial mount, such as a G11 or an HEQ6 or suchlike could follow a comet like Lemmon. I assume that the orbital elements could be obtained from somewhere so it would be a matter of programming the mount to follow in a non-siderial way and allow some long exposure imaging. Has anyone done this or am I talking through my hat?

Peter

[Astroman]

Great work Greg, looks terrific for only 45s also...





If you use EQMOD (EQASCOM v1.27c) on an EQ6/HEQ5 etc... you can now custom track on a comet or asteroid using the Ephemeris provided from the Minor Planet Center website. Not sure about a G11, but anything is possible.

[gregbradley]

Thanks JJJ.
Yeah I kind of can see it a bit naked eye (I think). Its pretty bright in a short exposure and stands out more than nearby stars.



Thanks Matt!



Thanks. Bad weather has moved in on Sydney as well. Its not looking promising this week.



I'll have to check the file sizes. I am just using Nikon Movie Editor because its in View NX2 which is one of Nikons photo processing softwares. Thanks for the tips. I'll check them out.



Thanks Rick. I enjoyed taking it. DSLR work is very involving and gets you out in the dark sky environment which I love.