Comet PANSTARRS (C/2011 L4) in Cetus - Mark II

[Octane]

My second attempt.

There was 37 hectares of backburning today which has left a haze over the southern parts of Canberra.

This haze has helped in this image taken just prior to civil twilight by deepening the colours naturally.

The comet headed towards the horizon very, very quickly and was lost in the haze on the horizon. I also noticed that it is losing brightness, and, the tail isn't as visible as it was just 3 days ago.

Stymied, yet again!

In case you're wondering about the teleconverter used and the fact that I didn't need it for this shot, it was on just in case for a tighter framing. In hindsight, I should have moved and got the comet closer to Telstra Tower. But, you live and learn, eh? :)

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM, Canon EF 1.4x Extender II
2.5s f/4.0 at 185.0mm iso250

Larger image available here (http://users.tpg.com.au/hqureshi2/Comet_PANSTARRS.html).

Comments, critique, etc., most welcome.

H

[astronobob]

Magic capture H, them colours are fantastic, and yes Pannstarrs is deep in twilight now, so hard to capture the contrast of it tail, its still there, just being washed out by the twilight & the very low altitude.
No chance here, she'll be all but gone in a week !
You have done well in capturing it so high above the horizon this time, nice shot :thumbsup:

[alexch]

Love it! I think it looks great the way it is and gives the eye some room to move and enjoy the colours. Even little clouds are in right places.

Cheers,
Alex

[iceman]

Beautiful!

[Deeno]

Love it!

[gregbradley]

wonderful shot Humi. Great colour and composition. I missed this one despite trying twice to get it. I think I must have been looking in the wrong spot or my horizon was a bit too high.

Greg.

[Larryp]

Lovely shot, H! The tower really brings attention to the comet, IMHO:thumbsup:

[Mick]

Nice work beautiful image

[multiweb]

Very nice framing and colours. :thumbsup:

[LightningNZ]

Superb H! I'm glad someone here managed to see it.

Cheers,
Cam

[OzEclipse]

Excellent image Octane!

From your post, it looks like you took the image on Friday night? I took this image from NW Belconnen Friday night. There was nowhere near as much smoke haze.

I was working late Monday and also Wed but got a quick look at it with bino's on Wednesday night just as it was setting. I was at a class at Reid (near Canberra CBD) on Thursday night. I popped out quickly at 815pm but it was cloudy. My impression was that there was a noticeable fade from Wed to Friday.

Joe Cali

[Octane]

Bob, Alex, Mike, Deeno, Greg, Laurie, Michael, Marc, Cam and Joe,

Thanks so much, guys. :D

Greg, I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to nab this one. You should just chuck your 14-24mm on, set it to 2.8 and fire away 45 minutes after sunset, facing directly west. I am positive you will pick it up.

Joe, I did capture this one on Friday night! Wow, you're right, Belconnen looked like it was rather clear. I captured mine from Mount Ainslie. Pity about the fading. I've already seen some images taken from Hawaii and it looks incredible. Maybe this one will make up for our McNaught and Lovejoy episodes? :)

Also, doubly honoured to have been featured with both images on the IceInSpace Facebook page. :)

Thanks, again, all.

H

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo Humayun.

Ross.

[colinmlegg]

Nice composition and colours, H :thumbsup:

The 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II is awesome. I finally got one and couldn't be happier with the quality at 2.8. How well does it work with the 1.4 extender? Much loss of sharpness?

[Octane]

Thank you, Ross and Colin!

There is very marginal loss in sharpness when using the lens wide open with the extender. Nothing that would be picked up in web resolution, or even a large print, I'd imagine. It is there, but, it is very, very slight. Thankfully, this incredible lens is tack sharp to begin with -- its MTF charts are off the hook. This coupled with the new 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM (its MTF charts are equally as badass) make a formidable combination.

I recently shot a wedding with it and was processing the images. Even when viewing thumbnail images taken with that lens in DPP, you can just pick the shots that were taken with it. It has a look and feel to it which is hard to put into words (possibly the excellent microcontrast). It just works. :)

H

[colinmlegg]

Thanks. I'm super impressed as well. Should have got it for the eclipse... silly! I'll check the 24-70 II. If it performs as well at 2.8 it'll be hard to resist. Now we just need a 14-24 to compete with the Nikon ;)