Comet 2004 Q2 (Machholz)

[gbeal]

Hi all,
anybody imaging/observing this latest visitor?
It is easy to see, and the attached image is from last night, from my backyard. Single shot, using a 300mm Nikkor @f4.5, 180 seconds, at ISO1000, Nikon D100.
While not as spectacular (yet anyway) as the two earlier in the year it is still refreshing to see new stuff.
Try it.
Gary

[iceman (Mike)]

Great looking shot Gary! I'm still yet to see the darn thing, let alone image it.. There hasn't been a clear night since I learnt about the comet.

What sort of exposure times do you need to pick up anything? Will a standard tripod shot of 15 or 30 seconds pick anything up?

[Saturn%5 (Graeme)]

Great shot Gary.

[mch62 (Mark)]

Ditto Iceman , still waiting on clear skys up here in sunny Qld

[gbeal]

Hi all,
in the old days (heck I am sounding old now), with film I would be looking at about 5 - 10 minutes at ISO800 etc.
These days the D100, and a "decent" lens (so about f4 or so) I normally hit the skyglow problem at about 5 minutes, so I use about 2 - 3 minutes, and if necessary, stack a few. This was a single 3 minute exposure at ISO1000.
Try it, you can't hurt.
Gary

[Mick (Michael)]

Very nice Gary, it's a beautiful Comet I've been observing it for a month or so. Good photo opp when it comes close to the Pleiades on and around the 8/01/05.

[gbeal]

THanks Mick,
I didn't know about that, but will certainly give it a decent try.
Gary

[silvinator]

Hi Gary, quick question: was your image tracked? If so, how did you track it?
Thanks in advance

[ving (David)]

lovely pic.
you need an xray lens on your camera ice

[rumples riot]

Fantastic shot Gary, real nice.

Paul

[gbeal]

Hi Salvinator,
tracked? Yes, but only on a nearby star, so not really in as much as the comet is concerned. But with the short exposure like this it doesn't really matter anyway.
Gary

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Here's what the comet looked like on december 16 from a Sydney suburban location-as seen through a small aperture short tube achromat (ETX 70) and a webcam (ATik 1 C)

[Daring Dave]

Unguided....using traditional 35m film how long could I image it before field rotation sets in badly ??????

Cheers DD

[beren]

http://www.allaboutastro.com/Articlepages/fieldrotation.html

Top info here

[iceman (Mike)]

Well I get star trails after about 15seconds if I use my digital camera on a tripod.. I can take about 3 x15s shots and stack them together before the rotation means they don't stack well.

If you buy a program called ImagesPlus you can accomodate for field rotation (as best as it can) and will still try and stack them. I haven't really tried using it though, as I haven't bought it and the trial version won't let you save.

Plus, it's pretty complex to use right off the bat.

Great shot seeker! Nice job!