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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Comet Machholz
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Showing posts 1 - 25 of 27, descending (reverse)
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01/07/2005 11:01:00 PM · #1

I got a picture of the comet tonight. Not the best shot but it was done with the 717 on a tripod a 30 second exposure at 5x zoom. The sky was clear where I needed it clouds around the horizon. It looked great through my 80 mm scope at 20 x to, in fact much better than I could photograph it. It was too far over the house for me to set up my Go To scope and track it. I just bought a mount to attach my camera to the scope and sometime I got to try it out.
01/07/2005 03:57:24 PM · #2
There's a great photo of this comet on Spaceweather.com.
01/06/2005 06:42:56 PM · #3
Originally posted by gradbert:

I got a picture of it without a telescope the other day. I took 6 4 seconds exposures and stacked them together. The comet showed up as a small fuzzy dot in Taurus


Well c'mon, let's have a look at it!!
01/06/2005 05:16:27 PM · #4
I got a picture of it without a telescope the other day. I took 6 4 seconds exposures and stacked them together. The comet showed up as a small fuzzy dot in Taurus
01/06/2005 04:44:33 PM · #5
//encke.jpl.nasa.gov/images/04Q2/q2-3.gif

There are a couple sky charts on this site and they are very detailed. I think this map shows from now till March every day where it will be in the sky. You can download it as a picture and at 100% it is easy to read. Of course it helps to know your Constellations. I read it is now at 31/5 mag so it should be easy to see at a dark site with unaided eyes.
01/06/2005 08:23:57 AM · #6
I don't consider it a naked eye object unless you're hundreds of miles from any light pollution and have both excellent night vision and experience looking at very faint objects. I've observed Comet Machholz from my light polluted front yard with binoculars, with some difficulty. From a darker location, it's much easier with the binoculars, but I have not seen anything at all with the naked eye, and I'm a very experienced observer of the sky.

Originally posted by Discraft:

as people say that its easy to see with the naked eye, but maybe i'm not familiar with what i should be looking.
I've tried the site but it doesn't load the map or location.
01/06/2005 01:00:27 AM · #7
I'm just hoping for a clear night so I can get outside and find it in my little scope. I understand that after this pass it will not be close to earth again for ~115,000 years or so. Maybe I'll have to get out the big scope once more before I sell it.

Message edited by author 2005-01-06 01:03:27.
01/05/2005 11:27:23 PM · #8
Originally posted by Discraft:

whats the password for the file?


thats a new one on me....

try the main web page //skymaps.com/

find the The Evening Sky Map in about the center of the page and click that, the click on the January 2005 PDF file near the bottom, no password needed to view this, if it does ask for a password, PM me with your email address and I wil eail the file to you

James

01/05/2005 11:20:46 PM · #9
whats the password for the file?
01/05/2005 11:10:46 PM · #10
Originally posted by Discraft:

as people say that its easy to see with the naked eye, but maybe i'm not familiar with what i should be looking.
I've tried the site but it doesn't load the map or location.


Ok try this site, its actually a PDF file, and if you enlarge it you can see the path of the comet on the star chart.
Sky MAp

when looking at it with the un-aided eye it can be hard to tell apart from a star, unless you are in an area that the night sky is VERy dark, then you might be able to pick it out, it should not look as sharp as a star.
in binoculars it should look a little fuzzy and not sharp like a regular star. if you have a 300mm or 400mm lens on your camera you shold be able to see it, but real faint as the focus screen in the camera cuts down a lot of the briteness

James
01/05/2005 10:47:14 PM · #11
as people say that its easy to see with the naked eye, but maybe i'm not familiar with what i should be looking.
I've tried the site but it doesn't load the map or location.

Message edited by author 2005-01-05 22:47:52.
01/05/2005 10:30:42 PM · #12
Originally posted by Discraft:

i'm having a little trouble to find this comet, i'm not very good at reading star maps since i'm a beginer any help would be nice.


Right now its near M45 ( The Pleiades, or seven sisters star cluster) it looks like a small little dipper.

but it may be in a diferent area of the sky based on your location

try this web site
Sky and Telescope

and enter your location information and i will show where the comet is

James

Message edited by author 2005-01-05 22:32:32.
01/05/2005 10:19:51 PM · #13
i'm having a little trouble to find this comet, i'm not very good at reading star maps since i'm a beginer any help would be nice.
01/05/2005 10:16:45 PM · #14
Originally posted by gi_joe05:

would anyone know how to do this with a d70?


Same thing... you need a T-adapter for your camera.
01/05/2005 09:41:58 PM · #15
would anyone know how to do this with a d70?
01/02/2005 06:09:57 PM · #16

Now this is serious astronomy. I don`t get out of bed before 5th magnitude.

The faintest i`ve tried with the 300d is galaxies m81,m82 at about 9th magnitude but i don`t think it`s bad for only 15 seconds at iso 1600.


Message edited by author 2005-01-02 18:33:32.
01/02/2005 05:23:21 PM · #17


I took this shot of Comet Linear back in 2002. It is just one of the Comets discovered by Linear and I forget its number. But it was close to 11th magnitude at the time and the stars in the photo are around 8,9, and dimmer magnitude. My CCD camera does not have anti-blooming so the stars tend to get bloated. It took less than 3 minutes to capture. The Comet moved in relation to the stars in this short span of time and the tail was going directly away from us.
01/02/2005 02:56:44 PM · #18
Which scope? Is it an 8" SCT (Meade or Celestron)? My 8" Celestron is 2000mm focal length.

My scope is an orion reflector.

Focusing can be a problem, i normally find a bright nearby star to focus on.

Polar alignment is a bit hit and miss for me and i struggle to get it good enough for shots over a minute at 1200mm maybe a little longer for objects nearer the pole star.

I got my t2 mount at jessops but i would think most large camera shops would stock them. Then all you need is the adaptor for your type of camera mount to connect the two together.

01/02/2005 12:58:57 PM · #19
Originally posted by strangeghost:

Which scope? My 8" Celestron is 2000mm focal length.


I was sort of wondering the same thing. I have an old 8" Celestron SCT with the T-adapter. It's very difficult to get the focus and polar alignment correct, and I think I need a focal reducer for a wider field of view.
01/02/2005 12:27:26 PM · #20
Originally posted by marbo:


I use a T2 mount with canon adaptor which goes into the eyepiece holder. This makes the scope a 1200mm lens.


Which scope? Is it an 8" SCT (Meade or Celestron)? My 8" Celestron is 2000mm focal length.

I have yet to buy the adapter to put my 10D on my scope at prime focus. I usually shop for that type thing at scopetronix. Where'd you get yours?
01/02/2005 12:19:57 PM · #21
Ooohhh... great pic. I'd love to get out and shoot in this rare winter warmth, but it's been cloudy. :-(
01/02/2005 10:53:18 AM · #22
How do you join the dReb to your scope?

I use a T2 mount with canon adaptor which goes into the eyepiece holder. This makes the scope a 1200mm lens.
01/02/2005 10:39:15 AM · #23
Impressive Mark. I've been watching it with the binos but have not attempted a pic yet. How do you join the dReb to your scope?
01/02/2005 10:21:56 AM · #24
good shot, I have been lookin for it and cant seem to find it. of course the sky conditions have not been the best around here

James
01/02/2005 09:09:03 AM · #25
Great shot you got there. I'll be sure to look. thanks. john
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