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[katodog]

Is it true??? Can it be? You've got to be joking!!!


It was actually clear tonight??? Naw, it couldn't have been. There was an astronomical event I wanted to see, so it must have been cloudy. I must be having hallucinations or weird dreams or something, there's no way I was out with the scope tonight looking at a comet!



Wow, I'm shocked. I actually got to see something cool. Typically, any time there's something rare or special happening, it's clouded over. I actually got to see the comet tonight. Wow, what a sight!!! It wasn't too hard to find in the scope, either. The Autostar didn't have the comet in it's databank, so I had to do the next best thing. I slewed to Alpha Perseus and then hopped over to the comet manually. Now, you want to talk about a sight that will knock your socks off!!! I wasn't wearing socks, but they would have definitely been knocked off if I was. I expected to see kind of an out of focus star types of object. I was floored when I saw how big and bright the comet was. Absolutely incredible!!



Here's a few shots from tonight, using the 12" SCT, a Fuji S6000fd, and a 40mm Celestron Plossl. Exposures were 30 seconds, and at the different light settings of the camera.












This shot was a stack of 24 jpg frames.







Man, this would have been an absolutely awesome sight if it had a tail.

[Mahinamama]

Wow! Those are awesome!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Excellent shots Kdog....just excellent.

This comet likes having it's picture taken. Even simple little telescopes are providing great views.

My chance to view and photograph the beast will be this evening. It will be a crystal clear night, although a bit cold...that's fine. Not even the blazing Moon can wash this beast out!

I understand that some are using 0III and other sky pollution filters to enhance the comet. Perhaps you can shoot thru some this evening when you go back out.

Anticipating more from this comet and it's photographers.

[katodog]

I was thinking about using the SkyGlow filter and a few others last night, but was too content to just do what I was doing to start playing around with all the equipment. Tonight will be different, though. I'm going to be taking out the SN6 on the LXD75 and shooting wide-field stuff with it and the Orion achro. I'll also be shooting with the camera only, piggied either on the SN6, or the Orion/SCT scopes. I thought maybe a round of shots with some colored filters, and the IR filter, might show some different stuff, so tonight is the "Let's be scientific and very thorough" night. It's going to be a long, but fun, night, I think. But, hopefully I'll be getting some nice shots, and some great wide-field shots as well.


I also planned on taking the laptop out to test out the new Phillips SPC900NC webcam and IR filter. But, that all depends on how long I take doing other stuff with the DSLR and different scopes. It will be tiring, but it's the first actual rare astro event that hasn't been clouded over, rained out, fogged, or otherwise ruined by those ever so popular acts of Mother Nature.


So, here's to a fun night to all, and the enjoyment of this rare sight.

[katodog]

Well, I didn't go out Sunday and do as I had planned. For some reason I just had this Blah mood set in, and I only spent about 15 minutes out looking at the comet through my SN6. I did spend a couple of hours out last night, though, and shot some more pics of the comet, and also piggied the camera on top of the scope for some nice wide-field shots of things. I got some nice shots of the Pleiades, or as Joe calls them, the Volkswagen. Or is that the Yugo? Or the Volvo?? I just can't remember. Sounded something like Superdude or Snoopypoo, or something like that.


Come on Joe, who calls it Suburu??? I didn't know you were Oriental.


Anyhow, here's some shots from last night...