Earlier this week the newly-discovered Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy was 10X brighter than ISON, so that's what I went out to capture at 3 am yesterday morning. Of course as I go to post the photo, now Comet ISON is making the news. Comets are notoriously unpredictable, but at least this month we have two competing for our attention!
I captured this with a DSLR, but I'm going to test some different lens and body configurations in the coming nights before I discuss details and tradeoffs. #astronomy #science #astrophotography
Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy, November 14, 2013.
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Amazing!
Beautiful
4 hour last night for this
http://www.flickr.com/photos/xamad/10855114653/
une photo claire, c'est beau, bravo pour toi jeff.
I don't have any special lenses for my DSLR.
Is there a recommended setting, aperture for taking night shots like this?
Great image, +Jeff Sullivan! Can you recommend a T ring and adapter for my Nikon D800 so I can try prime focus photography of the comet with my little 70mm refractor? I've read that some adapters make a grinding noise when attaching to a camera's lens mounting plate and want to get a brand which won't damage my camera. Thanks in advance!
Fantastic result +Roberto Bosio, what software did you use to process the sequence of photos (if you don't mind me asking)?
YES…
I'll be working on different combinations of bodies and lenses over the coming days +Christopher Aultman, and I'll try to find time to post a summary of the results on my blog: http://www.JeffSullivanPhotography.com/blog
great shot ! congrats
I haven't had access to a telescope with DSLR adapter to test those configurations +Richard Creamer. In fact, other DSLR photographers I've talked to have said that telescope sky trackers often produce too much vibration for photography, so I've avoided the concept altogether. I'm sure there are exceptions, or models which you can spend enough on to improve the quality of the motors, vibration isolation and the resulting images, but I've been waiting to see evidence of those products (in a reasonable price range).
Thank you, +Jeff Sullivan. I'm more interested in using my scope as an inexpensive 700mm lens – not so much for star tracking.
I figure that when the comet gets closer to the sun, I'll be able to shoot 1/60th sec exposures of the comet at some TBD ISO and get decent results w/o significant vibration effects if I use mirror lockup.
Also, I'd like to see how well the scope works as a long lens for normal daylight photography.
Fantastic work Jeff. Keep them coming.
Fantastic, keep up the good work!.
beautiful
nic!
Até mesmo a sua cauda pode ser vista, graças à capacidade da objetiva. (Olhando cuidadosamente, no sentido vertical).
Hevanly awsome!
Awonderful
Great capture +Jeff Sullivan. I also tried to get ISON on my chip but had bad luck and now the weather is too bad every day. I hop he'll survive his trip around the sun.
Aawsume!
beautiful!
That is really out of this world! Awesome!
Excuse me Jeff or anybody else who knows but what is ISON and what does it stand for ? One or two answers should be sufficient, thanks !
+Steve White its a comet 🙂
The full name is Comet C/2012 S1 ISON +Steve White, with ISON standing for the International Scientific Optical Network near Kislovodsk, Russia which discovered the comet, according to the +Wikipedia regarding the comet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2012_S1
:/
I am posting from my mobile phoneB-) . It is extremelydifficilt as my sight is very bad. I am interested in astronomy but am out of touch with it.
My post was intended for the attention of Jeff Sullivan. I cannot see the photo in the link you sent me because it simply will not configure. But I wondered what and why astronomers look at comets ?
Also my post is for Tammy !
I am in hospital at the moment . More later….possibly.
I gather that there are two comets from re reading your post. The ISON and the C/2013 R1 Lovejoy ! I wonderded if it was named after the TV DETECTIVE LOVEJOY ?
WHICH WAY ARE THEY GOING AND HOW NEAR OR FAR ARE THEY FROM THE EARTH ?
Wonderful
+Steve White : Comets were formed around the same time as the earth, so their chemical makeup provides clues about the early earth ans solar system. There are also major implications as we try to figure out how life was formed and whether or not it may occur elsewhere:
Ask an Expert: Why Study Comets, Meteors and Asteroids?
http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/hartley_chat.html
Eli: In what way is the study of asteroids, meteors and comets, related to astrobiology?
Bill: Meteoroids and meteors are thought to be vehicles for panspermia which is the notion that life can be transported from planet to planet. We know that Earth and Mars have been swapping meteors since the origin of the solar system, Some astronomers argue that bacteria and viruses can survive within meteorites during the time it takes to make the journey between the two planets, so life here could have originated on Mars, or life on Mars could have originated here, if it ever existed. Some people think comets also carry bacteria or viruses, though this is highly unlikely.
Thanks everyone for your kind comments, and thanks to +SPACE.com for including this image as one of ten in their article on Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy on Friday:
Amazing Photos: Comet Lovejoy C/2013 R1 Spotted by Stargazers
http://www.space.com/23863-comet-lovejoy-photos-c2013-r1-skywatching-images.html
I've just uploaded a newer image from Nov 30 to G+:
https://plus.google.com/107459220492917008623/posts/Ef6uUoiVBTr