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Comet Lulin again, March 1st early hours

  • Keith g
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15 years 9 months ago #76933 by Keith g
Hey Folks, I got home from a wedding at about 2am last night to find the skies clearing very nicely, so I decidied to stay up a little longer to catch Comet Lulin from 2.30-3am thrugh the camera lens. I had found it about 5 degrees west of Leo's brightest star Regulus, but I had found that even with dark skies, it was hard to see with the naked eye, maybe it's fading a lot already? Through my 9x60mm binoculars, I estimate the comet still near magnitude 5 visually, with again a slight hint of a 'tail' stretching east for about one quarter of a degree.

This shot I got is a stack of five 30 second exposures at f3.5 using a Canon 40D and a 200mm 'L' lens, tracked on board an 8" SCT. I had to use a high ISO of 1600 to bring out some detail in the tail, I do hope that you do not find it that objectionable. Over the course of a half-hour, I could clearly see the comet move against the background of stars !

P.S. Did any of you see Saturn lately, what a sight last night, It was my first time ever seeing the rings so flat, so strange - go and look !

www.flickr.com/photos/79652716@N00/3319903870/sizes/l/

Keith..

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15 years 9 months ago #76934 by Derek Davey
Replied by Derek Davey on topic Re:Comet Lulin again, March 1st early hours
Hi Keith


Thats a really nice image, well done.

Derek

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15 years 9 months ago #76935 by dave_lillis
Replied by dave_lillis on topic Re:Comet Lulin again, March 1st early hours
Nice image Kieth,
I saw it last night in the big binos and its certainly impressive, with a good sign of a tail.

Dave L. on facebook , See my images in flickr
Chairman. Shannonside Astronomy Club (Limerick)

Carrying around my 20" obsession is going to kill me,
but what a way to go. :)
+ 12"LX200, MK67, Meade2045, 4"refractor

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15 years 9 months ago #76938 by michaeloconnell
Replied by michaeloconnell on topic Re:Comet Lulin again, March 1st early hours
Very nice keith. Lovely tail!

Michael.

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15 years 9 months ago #76940 by Seanie_Morris
Replied by Seanie_Morris on topic Re:Comet Lulin again, March 1st early hours
Awesome shot Keith. I see what you mean about the ISO1600 being 'objectionable', but to get the detail you have, I'm sure we can overlook that! With what you captured here, tail and all, what's your guess on apparent length?

Do you find the 300mm L lens good for this kind of shooting? I have been playing with the idea of piggyback photography versus camera+scope for the future for me. I know the L lens is expensive, but do you find it worth it over T-mounting the camera?

Seanie.

Midlands Astronomy Club.
Radio Presenter (Midlands 103), Space Enthusiast, Astronomy Outreach Co-ordinator.
Former IFAS Chairperson and Secretary.

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15 years 9 months ago #76949 by Frank Ryan
Replied by Frank Ryan on topic Re:Comet Lulin again, March 1st early hours
Keith, you are seriously tempting me to
get my gear out and have a go shooting this comet.
(although still sick, it'd probably be the last one I'd shoot!)

Great shots,
Please keep em coming!

My Astrophotography
Shannonside Astronomy Club __________________________________________
Meade ETX-125PE, Bresser 10 x 50 Binos & Me Peepers

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