Something's not right with this image.

[CapturingTheNight]

Hi all,
I was having a look at spaceweather.com today and I noticed they had a gallery of images for Comet Lovejoy *click*
First image- "Very nice"
Second image- "Hang on. That's not real....."
http://spaceweather.com/comets/lovejoy1/Craig-Mcpeck1.jpg
I can't understand why anyone would fabricate an image like this and try and pass this off as a proper record of Comet Lovejoy and why Spaceweather allowed it to be posted in the first place? :screwy:
Anyway.....Thought I would share it and vent a little. I'm sure you will all spot what is wrong with it within a second.
Cheers
Greg

[Astroman]

I like the way he stole the image from Alex Cherney, from www.terrastro.com Very unprofessional.

[TrevorW]

I've let Spaceweather know of this blatant plagerism whether they do anything about it is another matter

[bartman]

Unreal!
I hope Alex does something about it!
bartman

[rogerg]

Unbelieveable. I immediately recognised the image and found who the original Milky Way shot was taken by. If done without the permission of Alex the author of this fake shouldn't be allowed to get away with what he's done.

[CapturingTheNight]

The question of if it was even their own image(s) was on my mind but it was (until just now) purely speculation so I didn't want to accuse. Makes it even worse now. Go get them Alex.

[Astroman]

I have also sent SW an email... might pay to send Alex one too...

[OICURMT]

Isn't the comet at the wrong angle?

[Omaroo]

Unreal. Who's Lovejoy did he pinch to paste in... and for that matter where'd the 'roo come from? LOL... good one, "Craig" - whoever you are!

[Astroman]

I have been looking for the lovejoy, but there are sooooo many to chose from LOL....

[OICURMT]

I sent the poster an e-mail.... :)

Awaiting his lame excuse....


BTW: The angle of the comet's tail is definitely wrong...

[shelltree]

That is just disgusting! Blatant plagiarism of Alex's (and possibly others) beautiful photography that they worked so hard to capture, only to have it stolen! This really annoys me that anybody could be heartless enough to steal somebody's pride and joy and try to tell people it's their own. :mad2:

Sorry guys but I feel very passionately about this. So many people go to such lengths, such hard work and effort only to have it stolen by others who couldn't care less.

End rant.

[renormalised]

It wouldn't surprise me if the "poster" was a fake as well...Craig "McPeck". Methinks he has a hold of his:):P

Quite frankly, Alex should take this guy to the cleaners, and if Spaceweather doesn't do anything about it, them as well.

[OICURMT]

I agree... time and effort put into a perfect shot only to have it called "Photoshopped" (Hotspur's Plane in Moon shot), yet blatant altered shots pass by unchallenged...

[erick]

I suspect that Craig McPeck

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Craig-McPeck-Photography/223235377720614

might not be happy to see his name used there!

[mithrandir]

Chris actually.

[zardos123]

sent this on to alex

brad

[OICURMT]

Ha ha ha... I was thinking Chris, but with Alex's name in this thread, I must have lost my train of thought... and just typed Alex.


Apologies to Hotspur (Chris)...

OIC!
(Corrected my original post)

[steve000]

Its even a fail on SW part, they should know the orientation of the milkyway is incorrect.

[kinetic]

Narrowing it down a bit...
I think it looks a bit like Scotty Adler's comet..

I looked at McDick's EXIF..shows not much except image size and date.
I looked at Alex's EXIF...Alex, you need to change your camera date mate :)

A simple resize of Alex's, pasted over the fraudster's...and a difference
layer shows the comet pic you are looking for.

Steve

[Moon]

Good old Craig Mcpeck from Dunedoo. I'm impressed he resisted the temptation to put a bush dunny (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunny) in the background somewhere.
Seriously Spaceweather - what were you thinking?
lol

[brian nordstrom]

:question: The milky way is 90 degrees out ?
What a cheek!!
Brian

[alexch]

What an innovative image, whoever made it should send it to Malins - I can see symmetry between the roo and the comet.

P.S. Sent an email to spaceweather.

[alexch]

Thanks for the investigation, Steve. The EXIF on my image is correct - it is from July 2010, taken night before David Malin Awards dinner in Parkes.

[kinetic]

(facepalm)! Sorry Alex!...I thought it was a recent one.:rolleyes:
BTW, a resize of yours approx 97x (ratio intact) gets a better difference image.
There are several give away stars in the comet he has used,
left behind after a difference mask. Bright artifacts in the tail are comet shot stars.
darker artifacts in the tail are sizing difference artifacts.
Shouldn't take long for someone to find it, based on nightly position.
He has cropped a lot of tail too...just used the most impressive ion/dust
tail split region.

Steve

[Jen]

:eyepop: i am suprised that spaceweather didnt pick that up in the first place WTF :tasdevil::tasdevil: get em Alex :poke:

[Adelastro1]

Haha. We'll see him/her at the awards dinner then won't we and sort them out then! :thumbsup:
Glad to see your sense of humour despite this.

[CapturingTheNight]

Looks like SW finally did something about it and removed it from the gallery.

[mozzie]

looks like the clown just wanted his five minutes of fame........