Comet McNaught (2006/P1) - 16th January 2007

[netwolf]

Hi All,

Well if it was not for a work mate who called me for instructions on finding the comet, I would not have gone out I had given up because of the cloud cover. Also i have this mean cold thats going around, cant get rid of the darn thing. Hence i did not go out last night.

Thanks mate you know who you are.

Well happy to report that i finally saw it and then showed it to the missus before calling my mate to instruct him to find it. "find Venus the bright looking star then its three fists south over from Venus" With those instructions I left him and he called me back to say he found it.

So here are my photos the best of.

Can anyone identify what the second star like object is in the first photo, its to the left and down from the comet. Nearest I can make out it could be a star in the Sagittarius constellation but I am not very confident on that.

Shot with Canon A610.

Regards
Fahim

[leon]

Nice Going Fahim, hopefully if the clouds dissappear i might get a shot in tomorrow, nice work.

Cheers leon

[netwolf]

Can anyone reccomend what processing i could do to improve the last image. Is there a way to remove the redness and improve the brightness of the comet.

[Itchy]

Fahim,
That image is a really difficult one to "fix". You can reduce the red by doing some colour balance in Photoshop (or something similar), but the comet is so close to the background (in the red haze) that it is very difficult to enhance it. I gave it a go, but the results were not worth posting. My shot was taken when the comet was higher in the sky and it contrasted much better in the blue background. Try taking shots sooner after sunset this evening if you can. The comet will be higher tonight anyway so that may help.

good luck

Itchy

[Ric]

Hi Fahim, some great captures of the comet.

good stuff