fragmention of comet photo

[Phil]

Hi just going thew my photos and came across this photo what do you think
is this fragmention of the comet .
give me you thought
Phil

[ving]

is it breaking up already? i havent heard that it is...

[iceman]

It looks like it from that image, but I haven't seen any other images showing the head like that.

Do you have others?

[rmcpb]

Head was tight and single when I saw it on Saturday BUT its been clouds since then :(

When was that photo taken and what are of the technical settings for the photo?

[ving]

is it a stack of more than one image? maybe a misalignment? also the larger fragment is enlongated. this sugests that the camera moved during the shot... i know this cause i have half a roll of film of this problem :lol:

[Phil]

photo was taken on 21/01/2007 with a canon 300D 28-90mm lens taken from Rochampton Queensland.
Phil

[JohnG]

On Tuesday night, 23.01, the head was intact when I observed it on the Braidwood-Goulburn Road near the Magellan Observatory between 2050 and 2130 on my way home from Sydney in pristine skies. Using both naked eye and 10x50 bino's.

Absolutely incrediable, tail almost to the zenith.

Cheers

JohnG

[erick]

Intact last night through 20x80s. Mind you, I have been hoping for it to blow apart! ;)


Photograph hard to explain - the few stars visible are pinpoint?

[Ric]

I was observing it close up through the LX200R on the 23/01/07 with a 18mm UWA meade EP and it looked like a single structure as well.

Cheers

[ving]

there are 2 stars near the end of the tail to the left that are elongated... or maybe there are some sort of atrifact?

[RB]

Phil from the exif data on the image it's apparently taken at 175mm F.L. which fits in with the image scale of the photo I think.

What I would say has happened is that the camera was bumped or mirror slap which caused the bright head to appear in two positions. The fact that the smaller "head" did not elongate would support this. The other "pinpoint stars" could be hot pixels as they did not elongate and as David stated "there are 2 stars near the end of the tail to the left that are elongated"

I've converted your image to b/w to try and isolate the head detail, the "pin point stars" and the elongation. See what you think.

Do you have any other photos of the comet taken around the same time?

[dcnicholls]

It's camera shake. According to John Bortle on the comets-ml list, any break up will be seen first in large instruments. Camera shots won't show the effect (initially). Anything that looks like it is a knocked tripod :(

DN

[erick]

Yep, them ain't no "pinpoint stars" - better keep my mouth shut! :rolleyes:

[Phil]

I have taken over 200 photos of this comet and this is the only one. The photo is not stacked. The camera was on a a stand and i used a cable release. My been the write time in the write place or mybe not i dont no. I have inverted the image see what you think.
Phil

[iceman]

Everyone else has images on that same night with the same (or greater) focal length, and shows no breakup.

[ving]

i stand by my explanation. the stars that i mentioned near the end of the tail have the same shape as teh head of the comet. also, on close inspection of the "broken off" bit it doesnt have a tail of its own. have a look at the tail closely and you will notice this.

[RB]

Sorry Phil I don't understand what you mean?
The piece wouldn't just flake off and disappear in a matter of a few minutes, it would be visible in photos that others took as well.

[leon]

Phil i had one of them during my imaging of the Comet, it was a camera shake.

Sorry but the Comet last night was like this..

Cheers Leon :thumbsup:

[Calin]

Given you have taken over 200 shots and only one shows this 'split' and that nobody else can produce a similar image would strongly suggest it is an artifact in the image. The large distance between the 'two pieces' if this was an actual break away would have occurred over several minutes at least and should be captured by others, I don't think it would go un-noticed. Given the large distance between us and the comet itself we are practically viewing it at the same angle everywhere on the planet. I also agree that such a large piece would not disintegrate so quickly that nobody would have seen it, and in between you taking more photos. The fact it is not elongated like the 'main' comet head also suggests it is not part of the comet.

Nice 'spoof' shot though, worthy of some award for "McGaffs while viewing the best comet of our very short century so far" ...

[erick]

Dare I suggest it's a spaceship hidden behind the comet sneaking out for a look? :ship2:

No, better keep your mouth shut again, Eric.:screwy:

[Phil]

Cool thanks everyone for you replys. Its good to hear what people think. :

[jjjnettie]

Haven't we all.:)
It would be the icing on the cake.

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Whatever the cause Phil the end result is that you have an amazing image.
:thumbsup:

For what it's worth ..... I'm with Erick.

Aliens!

:D

[Ric]

It certainly would have been a truly awesome sight to see it split up and have had three similar comets in the sky.
It already has been a once in a lifetime event for me, but you never know what is just around the corner.

Cheers

[loomberah]

This is definitely a case of camera shake! ESO have imaged the comet recently and there is no sign of any breaking up. It is definitely not going to be seen on an unguided tripod mounted camera photo before it is seen in a large telescope, and as others have posted, no one else has seen it visually or photographically. The 2 stars that are visible in the image are quite faint, but the brighter one of them shows hints of the camera shake too, I've indicated it in the attached image. The same offset is seen in the star trail as in the coma.

cheers, Gordon

[astroperson]

Hi

What looks like the fragmentation of the comet is actually camera movement.

You may notice a couple other marks on your negative(?) that have very similar movement. However I cannot think that created the thrid spot behind the comet.

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Aliens !!!

:whistle:

[Doug]

Well there aint nothing broke that can't be fixed and put back together.