Comet Q2/2004 Machholz

[Robby]

Hi all,
I said I would post my next image here on another thread so here it is!
After a couple of months of shocking weather the clouds finally lifted, albiet at 1st 1/4 moon. So I had to do something!!!
Found the comet so decided to image it. With 1st 1/4 Moon and my light pollution, the contrast is not good, but I was just happy to be out.
Image details...
10x2min shots @ ISO800 stacked & processed in Photoshop.
Canon 300D prime focus thru C8 @ f/6.3
Images were dark frame subtracted before stacking.

Cheers
Rob

[iceman]

Very nice Robby! It looks exactly like how I saw it through the eyepiece the other night, of course without that nice colour and star trails though :D

Hopefully the horrible weather we've all had lately has finished its run and we can get onto some nice stuff for a change!

[Robby]

Yes, I forgot to mention that the star trails are due to the comet moving, not tracking errors!

[beren]

Nice Robby thanks for sharing :)

[rumples riot]

Nice shot, another celestial event shown in its full beauty.

[Robby]

Did a quick and dirty animation of the 10 images.
This is essentially how fast the comet is travelling over a period of 21mins. Not bad eh! Sorry for the poor image quality, but I wanted to keep the file size down.

[iceman]

Wow very nice.

[beren]

Double wow ....Thanks Robby top stuff

[ving]

comet pron on teh forumz! :)

well done rob

[silvinator]

wonderful image robby! great work mate :cool2:

[Mick]

To cool Robby, wonderful images.

[Dave]

Hi Robbie

Just looked at your shot of Comet Q2/2004 Machholz. It's a top pic and I'd like to include it in our magazine readers photo pages. Send to:

SKY&SPACE Magazine Sky Shots
P.O. Box 1690
Bondi Junction N.S.W. Australia 1355

Write your name, address and phone number on the back of any print or slides. Provide as many details a you can, like you have already in your post - ie/ telescope,camera, film, exposure time, or, electronic camera equipment used. Send a self addressed envelope if you want any prints returned.

Emailed photos should, if posible, be 300 dpi tiff or jpg. If you are worried that these might be too large to send, ZIP them up or send them on a disc.

There's a free copy of the Aussie made 'Sky Atlas Pro' software up for grabs for the best pic sent in by readers.. so go for it! Well done.

If anyone else wants to do the same with any of their pics then just follow the same procedure. Good luck.

[rumples riot]

Nice animation, keep up the good work.

Dave I might take you up on that offer, what is the email address?

Paul

[Robby]

Thanks for all the great comments! It's much appreciated.

Dave,
I'm humbled that you think my image is of good enough quality for print.
If you like I can put a hi-res image on my ftp site in a zip file that can be downloaded. If this is ok, let me know & I'll let you know the download address.

Cheers
Rob