My log of images of Comet Lovejoy

[Lester]

Hi all,

Like many would have liked to have seen more of this comet, but cloud limited out views. Here is my log of images from the 22nd December up to 3rd January. More will be added later when the weather improves for me. It has been a wonderful comet to view, for me being second to Mc Naught 2006-07.

I have improved the images from what has been posted before due to using GradientXTerminator in Photoshop.

22nd December
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/21160bc3.jpg

23rd December
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/3359c0f7.jpg

28th December
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/e1ead5f8.jpg

30th December
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/ba94f9d5.jpg

31st December
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/8a034989.jpg

1st January
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/505af907.jpg

2nd January
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/1c97b37a.jpg

3rd January= Photomerge of 2 images with 24mm lens at F2, 4 minute exposures.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/53479490.jpg

11th January= only a 20 second exposure was possible due to the Moon rising at 10p.m. . The comet is getting very close to the LMC. Text on image helps to identify the comets position. 24mm lens at F1.4.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/19c6dab5.jpg

13th January= 2 minute exposure with 50mm lens at F2, using Astro 40D at ISO 800. Looks like the tail goes well past the LMC.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/844abef5.jpg
Inverted view= 18 x 2 minute exposures, showing the extent of the tail better.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/3f8c5e14.jpg

14th January = 8 minute exposure with 24mm lens at F2 and Astro 40D at ISO 400. Tail extends out of the frame being over 36 degrees in length. Plus a fork in the tail can be seen in smaller thumbnail size image that passes above Canopus.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/dc10a80c.jpg

15th January= 5x12 minute exposures with 24mm lens at F2 and Astro 40D at ISO 400. This is about as deep as my rig can go.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/47a04e12.jpg

16th January= 24mm lens at F2, ISO 1600= 2 FOVs merged.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/b4f68b33.jpg

18th January= 24mm lens at F2, ISO 1600. 8x3 minute exposures.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/3f268019.jpg

20th January=4x4 mins, 24mm lens at F2, Astro 40D ISO 1600. Thin cloud present.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/9fb80327.jpg

[renormalised]

Well done, Lester:)

Great images:)

[Shiraz]

amazing collection Lester - thanks for posting the reprocessed versions. Regards Ray

[Astroman]

Nice work Lester, looks great

[Lester]

Thanks Carl, Ray and Andrew for your comments.

Here I have added the same images, just smaller.

22-12-11
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/f3764073.jpg

23-12-11

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/570fbeca.jpg

28-12-11
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/dcf88292.jpg

30-12-11
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/afaeba05.jpg

31-12-11
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/a76971be.jpg

1-1-12
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/609a3518.jpg

2-1-12
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/956ff6b6.jpg

3-1-12 =photomerge of 2 x 4 minute exposures with 24mm lens at F2.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/bb2c09eb.jpg

[Garyh]

You have done a wonderful job Lester! Lovely progression as it fades away.
I wished I stayed home for Chrissy and caught the first few mornings of lovejoy, must have been a real sight coming over the horizon!

[gregbradley]

That's a great timeline of the comet. I was amazed at how quickly it faded.

I started imaging on Christmas Eve morning. I then imaged it again on the 27th morning and it was noticeably dimmer although I was now viewing it at my dark site.

Then just 3 days later it seemed to disappear altogether.

Later images show there is no nucleus so it appears it completely vaporised and the gas/dust/water vapour trail is drifting without any new fuel so to speak. Or very little.

I did image it just a few days ago with an astroCCD and it still comes up but visually it is virtually undetectable unless you use averted vision and even then it is faint as.

Greg.

[StephenM]

Fantastic set of images Lester! Great stuff.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Lester]

Thanks Gary, Greg and Stephen for your comments.

I have not had a chance at seeing the comet since the 3rd due to persistant cloud; still living in hope though.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi, Lester.

Great sequence of images!
I think if we trawled the net, a pretty good animation could be made with all the images taken.

Cheers,

Justin.

[Lester]

Thanks Justin for your comments.

I have been adding all the new images of Comet Lovejoy to the first post in this thread so people don't have to search everywhere to find them.

All the best.:thumbsup:

[stardust steve]

Spectacular images. My favourite is the 23rd Dec pic displaying Lovejoy in all its glory:eyepop:
Second favorite, the close up of the LMC 13th Jan, amazing detail and colour :thumbsup:

[Lester]

Hi all, I have been updated images to the first post as I take more images of Comet Lovejoy; But for some unknown reason the "Edit" button has been removed from my post so I cannot add images in there. Can a moderator explain why this had happened please.

Here is my comet Lovejoy image from last night 22-1-12 it is 13x3 minute exposures taken with 24mm lens at F1.4 and astro 40D at ISO 1600.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/457598c7.jpg

[mithrandir]

IIRC you can only edit posts less than 2 weeks old.

[Lester]

Hi all,

23-1-12 image of Comet Lovejoy= 7x5 minute exposures with 24mm lens at F2 and Astro 40D at ISO 1600.
Canopus at the bottom and Sirius to the left.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/439ece91.jpg

[multiweb]

Very cool series. Nice collection indeed. :thumbsup:

[astronobob]

Wow Lester, You certainly have given Lovejoy a work-out, Impressive ! !

[Matt Wastell]

Hi Lester
A stunning collection of a super comet! Thanks for the post!

[Lester]

Thanks Marc, Bob and Matt for your comments. I will keep shooting the comet till I cannot see it.

All the best.

[Lester]

Hi all,

this is 7x6 minute exposures taken with 24mm lens at F2, and Astro 40D at ISO 1600 taken on 24-1-12.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/8da46aea.jpg

[jjjnettie]

What a great collection of memories! Thanks for sharing them with us. :)

[Quark]

A very fine record Lester, top stuff indeed.

Regards
Trevor

[Lester]

Thanks JJ and Trevor for your comments.

Here is tonights image, 25-1-12= 13 exposures of 6 and 12 minutes at ISO 1600 and 800 with 24mm lens at F2.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/9661c260.jpg

[Lester]

Hi all,

image from the 26-1-12 taken with 5D MK ll at ISO 6400. 4x150 second exposures. Bright meteor on right of frame running parallel to the comet.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/910650bc.jpg

27th January= 9x3 minute exp at ISO 6400 with 5D MK ll at ISO 6400 and 24mm lens at F2.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/83790b67.jpg

[Lester]

Hi all,

Image of Comet Lovejoy 28-1-12, this is 4x5 minute exposures with 70-200 lens at 70mm F2.8, 5D MK ll at ISO 6400. It is a crop of the full FOV.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/bebc7da3.jpg

[Quark]

What a great effort to still be able to resolve the comet Lester. Wonder what the distance is now from the Sun, interesting that the tail still seems so well defined.

Cheers
Trevor

[Lester]

Hi Trevor, thanks for your comments, and good question on the tail length.

Here is image from 29-1-12, it is 6x2.5 minute esposures with 50mm lens at F2 and 5D at ISO 6400.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/cb09cec6.jpg

[funktapus]

Thanks for your work Lester.

[Lester]

Thanks Nick for your comments.

Trevor here is answer to your question, by Rob.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/comets-ml/message/19291?o=0&var=1

[Lester]

Due to weather and the Moon tonight was the first chance at Comet Lovejoy since the 29-1-12. This image from 12-2-12 is 3x5 minute exposures with canon 5D MK II at ISO 6400 and 70-200mm lens at 200mm F2.8 . Only just squeezed the comet into the FOV.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/16d2d212.jpg

[Lester]

Hi all, here is an image of comet Lovejoy from 16th February 2012. Taken with Takahashi 160mm F3.3 Astrograph and Astro 40D at ISO 1600.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/7a7096e5.jpg

This image is 7x5 minute exposures with Canon 5D MK II at ISO 6400 and 70-200 lens at 200mm F2.8 .
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/ac23f18b.jpg

[Lester]

Hi all, images from last night of comet Lovejoy, magnitude 17.5 with tail of 1 degree.

4x8 minute exposures with 5D MK II at ISO 6400 and Takahashi 160mm F3.3 Astrograph.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/8deb8b84.jpg

13x6 minute exposures with astro 40D at ISO 1600 and 200 mm F2.8 lens.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/1497c584.jpg

[Forgey]

Lovely set of images Lester.

[Lester]

Thanks Paula.

Here is last nights image. 12x4-6 minute exp with Astro 40D at ISO 1600 and Takahashi astrograph. First is reduced size full FOV.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/2c628c03.jpg

Second is a full size crop of comet showing some distant galaxies down to magnitude 16.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/a7dd5aa0.jpg

[Lester]

Image from 23-2-12, comet Lovejoy has reached magnitude 18. This is 9x6 minute exposures with astro 40D at ISO 1600 and Takahashi 160mm f3.3 Astrograph. The galaxy infront of the head of the comet is PGC 16445, mag 16.7 .

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/2bbd2f04.jpg

[Lester]

Hi all, last night was my best try for comet Lovejoy with better sky transparency than the night before for this month. The image is a stack of 15x4 minute exposures with Astrograph and Astro 40D at ISO 1600.

First image is the inverted view with "X" at the ephemeris position of comet Lovejoy, and comet to its left. North is up.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/The%20best%20of%20comet%20C%2020011 %20W3%20Lovejoy/f16ddc2d.jpg

Standard view that still shows the comet extending out of the FOV.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/The%20best%20of%20comet%20C%2020011 %20W3%20Lovejoy/19b1bdd5.jpg

[Suzy]

Hi Lester :hi:
I got my copy of Australian Sky & Telescope magazine yesterday, and what do I see? I see one of your comet Lovejoy pics in it! :eyepop:
Congratulations!! :2thumbs:
I was proud as punch, cause I know him, yes I do.. kinda.... :P:lol:

[Lester]

Hi Suzy, thanks for your comments. Yes it is interesting the people we "kinda know" and share chuckles with, ask questions of and yet many times don't see face to face. I get that similar proud feeling when I use the Takahashi astrograph as it use to be owned by Terry the discoverer of this wonderful comet, and yet I have never met him in person.

All the best.

[Lester]

Here is image of comet Lovejoy from 14-3-12. It is 13x4 minute exposures with Astrograph and astro 40D at ISO 1600. Tail is still over 1 degree in length. The comet will soon leave the constellation of Lepus and enter Orion.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu109/Lester_045/Comet%20images/The%20best%20of%20comet%20C%2020011 %20W3%20Lovejoy/aaf65543.jpg