Last night was my first night out under dark skies attempting to do some astrophotography. Here is the best shot from the night. I was very excited when I saw the comet during processing. I did not know about this comet in fact but found it quickly
on IIS. The annotated photo has the details (time, date, location, camera settings etc; except the mount: a 22+ y.o. Polaris EQ with original RA motor drive).
Larger, less compressed version here:
http://s6.postimg.org/j67x96sox/DSC_0128_edit011.jpg
I'm out again tonight, same location, trying for narrower field shots: Carina neb & co., Omega cent, Hamburger... Those so-called controlled burns however have smoked up the sky for 100s of miles around. The skies would be pristine up here but these pyros are at it all the time apparently. Only chance you've got is if the wind is blowing just right and happens to blow the smoke away. And that's rare (because there are fires all around). I cannot believe that we need to ruin the sky and air quality all over north-central Victoria to keep bushfires under control. And it's April already for goodness sake!
