Indeed I did take some shots of the comet before it headed south in during the first week of January. It had not occurred to me how bright this comet was going to be and it was my brother who spotted it one morning and called wondering if there was a comet in the southeastern sky. I was pretty amazed at how bright it was against the strong twilight and was able to take a few shots with a Pentax 67 and 300mm lens. I also took shots with this camera the following two evenings and the next morning. I also tried some shots on 4x5 but it was so cold in the morning that there were mechanical problems with the cameras so I don't know what to expect. I also spotted it during the daylight one day but it was only about 7 degrees high in the south and a very difficult object.
No, I havn't had the film processed yet but plan to drive up to Anchorage (about 350km. in the next couple days to have it done.
Indeed I did take some shots of the comet before it headed south in during the first week of January. It had not occurred to me how bright this comet was going to be and it was my brother who spotted it one morning and called wondering if there was a comet in the southeastern sky. I was pretty amazed at how bright it was against the strong twilight and was able to take a few shots with a Pentax 67 and 300mm lens. I also took shots with this camera the following two evenings and the next morning. I also tried some shots on 4x5 but it was so cold in the morning that there were mechanical problems with the cameras so I don't know what to expect. I also spotted it during the daylight one day but it was only about 7 degrees high in the south and a very difficult object.
No, I havn't had the film processed yet but plan to drive up to Anchorage (about 350km. in the next couple days to have it done.
cheers Houghy!
auroradude thanks too! you guys had the best of Comet West in 1976 also i believe, the last that favoured us? was C/1969 Y1 Bennett in 1970 methinks? altho that might of been an equatorial number hhmmm -
its funny how many people here mix up comet west with bennett, due to west being famous coz it was a NH object -
funny story during HBs time, we had maps in the paper that were for NH only! showing us were to look - outrageous!
Heres my pic i took when the moon was waxing crescent, got my pics developed and this is one of 4 that i have scanned so far....
Since i had 15 feet of shutter release cable i decided to hop in the pic as well to give a bit of scale to the image....
Of course im a little blurred cos of the long exposure....
Used a Minolta 7000 AF on tripod, 50mm f/4.5, 30 sec exposure with 800 ISO.....
The quality of the image is due to the scanner, i have a dirty screen on the underside of the glass and have no way to take the thing apart to clean it!
Note the aeroplane trail through the image, i live under a flight path as it turns out so they're quite common!
Really like your pics a lot.
Don't be cross with me: I downloaded 2 of your pics and played a bit with the brightness & contrast and found in the case of Fringe's pic that you also captured the ion tail (faint but definitely there!) and that First's pic also contains a lot more detail.
Just minor adjustments. Again, hope you don't mind - see it as a sign of how much I liked them
Thanks for the compliments... nice to be appreciated... and also to succeed! All the shots that have been posted have been great. I had been a bit jealous of you guys when the clouds hid the comet until the 18th, then WOW!
Earthlight used our camera and got some great shots until the 21st, when I was able to wrench it from her to get a few shots of my own. If I was not on-call that week-end, there was no way that we would have stayed in Brisbane... we would have packed the kids and tent and gone to Leyburn and dark skies.
nice job Grinz, dont mind at all mate , in fact your very very eagle eyed!!! didnt see that last night! but was a bit tired tho - anyway i thank ye for teasing that out of it!
I have never owned an f1.4 anything before? the 50mm is an amazing light/photon hoover! I always loved the old megafast film 'schmidt camera's' (popular and elite comet-imaging set up from the past) and there ridiculous f ratios , reminds me of them,.. well kinda
cheers Houghy!
auroradude thanks too! you guys had the best of Comet West in 1976 also i believe, the last that favoured us? was C/1969 Y1 Bennett in 1970 methinks? altho that might of been an equatorial number hhmmm -
its funny how many people here mix up comet west with bennett, due to west being famous coz it was a NH object -
funny story during HBs time, we had maps in the paper that were for NH only! showing us were to look - outrageous!
I can remember comet Bennett. I was 9 or 10 years old at the time living in Livingston, Montana at about 45 degrees north latitude. It was in the early morning eastern sky. I used my dad's 35mm camera pressed against a window to try and get shots of it.
Then a funny thing occurred: Comet Kohotek. I guess it was because of all the interest in Bennett that people got real excited that another "great" comet was coming. It was really hyped in the media. Then it turned out to be a "dud". Then; West was coming, the astronomy community said "now this is really going to be a nice one" but the media wasn't listening. They said "yea, right. We remember the last time you said that. (Kohotek)" So West received very little press and was quite a surprise for many!
BTW; You're all invited to come and see the northern lights any time you like!
BTW; You're all invited to come and see the northern lights any time you like!
auroradude, I would love to see a real Aurora...I put that on my must do list!!! before I get too old..
Well being bleak and cloudy weather everynight since sunday I reprocessed 2 images from the 4th feb before the moon had risen too high.
First is a closeup crop of 3x60sec with only a little processing and the other is 5x90sec. Both taken with a televue genesis..
Cheers and hope for some clear skies soon
Gary
Here is one of of the single shots from Teusday night. Bit grainy, but you can see a meteor coming from the south to outside the frame in the upper right.
Hi again everyone.....
Well after nearly a week of not seeing mcnaught I finally got a quick glimpse after the storms and showers cleared last night. Still some low cloud that wouldn`t move but managed 2 images. could still see it naked eye as a fuzzy blob with a upward haze of the tail..sure has faded alot now...
Details..
single image 3min @ iso 800 50mm @f/2.8
Df removed and a bit of processing in Ps..
cheers Gary....
We got lucky tonight, beautiful clear skies until the sun went down and then the cloud started to move in. Sound familiar Managed to snap off half a dozen shots, this one being one of the better one. Even managed to catch a meteor shooting through the scene to the left. Getting very faint now though still an easy target with the 10x50 binos
Details:
Taken from the Mapleton SS Observatory
10-02-07 19:36 EST
Canon300D, 50mm FL@f/2.2. 30 sec exp, ISO400
Cropped and curved in PS.
Nice one Paul - glad you managed to thwart the clouds! I haven’t seen the comet for a while but it still looks quite impressive. I set up last night but we got deluged with really heavy showers. Lucky my observing hutch and Scopestuff covers are waterproof.
Finally! I have had some film processed and have posted the first image. This one is from the morning of January 9, 2007 Taken from near Homer, Alaska.
I used a 4x5 camera with a 300mm lens and Fuji RVP100F film for a two-second exposure in strong twilight.
Here's the link to the image: http://www.spacew.com/gallery/image005585.html
There will be a few more as I find time to scan and post.
I've not been able to post for a few days due to my password not being accepted... very strange.
Anyway, I've posted a new image from 9th Feb showing both Magellanic Clouds and the comet here: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~loomberah/mcnaught.htm
A very long exposure last night with a fisheye lens after the coma had set barely shows the tail at all so I'm not posting it, but will try again tonight if the storm clouds allow me a look earlier.
sorry guys i have been away this was taken in on the usin a digital camera and yes with a fish eye lens fireworks where at hillary's boat harbour it's not the sky works in the city it was actually a mate of mine and his mate they where their for australia day not to sure what camera he used all i know it was about 3k worth. hope this helps will ask him next when i see him