Astrophotography

[JosBaz]

Not really weather, unless of course we consider this space-weather! Either way, observing and photographing the night-sky is very weather dependent so worth a new topic.

I wanted to photograph C/2020 F3 (or simply 'Comet NEOWISE') since it won't be visibile for the next 7000 years or so, but also while it was one of the 'best' comets in the past 25 years. The attached show is a stack of 50 images, each with a 2 sec exposure @ISO800 using a Nikon DSLR with a 80-200/2.8 lens.

[Blicj11]

Very cool JosBaz! Thank you, thank you for sharing. (If you are trying to figure out what you are looking at, you might have to download the jpg to see the comet.)

[Randall75]

JosBaz
Great picture of the comet


thanks

[elagache]

Dear Jos, Blick, Randall, and WeatherCatters with "stars in their eyes,"

I wanted to photograph C/2020 F3 (or simply 'Comet NEOWISE') since it won't be visibile for the next 7000 years or so, but also while it was one of the 'best' comets in the past 25 years.

Thanks for sharing!  I was aware of this comet and in principle have the equipment to try to photograph it, but I just don't have the time.  Still, it brought back memories.  On my wall I have a photo I took of comet West in 1976!

Cheers, Edouard 

[xairbusdriver]

An outstanding image! You obviously have some serious equipment to keep that camera aimed! Is the comet now visible near Sundown or still just before Sunrise?

[wurzelmac]

Wow, coll shot, JosBaz. 

[mcrossley]

Nice shot - you can clearly see both tails.

[JosBaz]

An outstanding image! You obviously have some serious equipment to keep that camera aimed! Is the comet now visible near Sundown or still just before Sunrise?

Thanks all for the kind words.

Actually it is pretty standard equipment: normal DSLR camera with a telelens, mounted on a tripod. Remote shutter (wired). No filters. So there was no tracking for these shots to keep the camera aimed (which is why I kept exposure to 2 seconds).
The key component here is the stacking software (I used Astro-Pixel-Processor).

I took the shots about an hour after sunset (Northwest direction). The comet should still be visible these days, but it is getting fainter quickly.

[xairbusdriver]

Thanks for the info!

[BikerGeek]

Just wanted to say as the others have said, that is great picture.

[xairbusdriver]

Speaking of "Astro", our most recent mission has made the first US splashdown in 45 years! Both astronauts are back on the recovery ship and looking great!!

[WCDev]

Wow! very impressive image