Page 2 of 3

Re: Comet NEOWISE

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 9:41 am
by donstim
Here are a couple single DLSR/tripod shots from a few nights ago. Nikon D5000. ISO 800. First one 4 seconds at f/4.5 48 mm, second one 4 seconds f/6.3 300 mm.
Comet Neowise over Bellevue_DSC_0055_00001.jpg
Comet Neowise over Bellevue_DSC_0055_00001.jpg (397.15 KiB) Viewed 4654 times
DSC_0041_00001.jpg
DSC_0041_00001.jpg (211.68 KiB) Viewed 4654 times

Re: Comet NEOWISE

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 1:26 pm
by umasscrew39
Fantastic shots, Don!

I was disappointed last night. The comet became visible for about 30 sec just at sunset. So, I only got a couple of shots with my DSLR on a tripod. I also don't have a large lens, so, I was fighting a losing battle.
Neowise_2.jpg
Neowise_2.jpg (455.75 KiB) Viewed 4650 times

Re: Comet NEOWISE

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 3:38 pm
by donstim
Hey, at least you got it! Nice shot! Isn't that something to see! It's been a long time since we've had a comet like that!

Don

Re: Comet NEOWISE

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:11 am
by oopfan
Here is my meager contribution. I'm underwhelmed. It ain't no Hale-Bopp or Comet West.

Camera settings are embedded in the image name:
NEOWISE 2020-07-20 ISO800 16s Kodak DX6490 BMorgan.JPG
NEOWISE 2020-07-20 ISO800 16s Kodak DX6490 BMorgan.JPG (145.99 KiB) Viewed 4635 times
NEOWISE 2020-07-20 ISO800 12s Kodak DX6490 BMorgan.JPG
NEOWISE 2020-07-20 ISO800 12s Kodak DX6490 BMorgan.JPG (91.77 KiB) Viewed 4635 times

Re: Comet NEOWISE

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:29 am
by Menno555
Nice to see all the captures!

Here my (until now only because clouds :x ) Neowise capture. With my 8" f/10 SCT of course only the head part.
By accident I did also capture the waves in front of the head. I thought it was color banding at first but it turned out it was not :D
Nucleus is also visible.
100 x 4 seconds, stacked in AutoStakkert.
Neowise_head.jpg
Neowise_head.jpg (557.66 KiB) Viewed 4635 times

Re: Comet NEOWISE

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 6:40 am
by julietdiane
How does your telescope track the comet? My skywatcher only has two tracking options: planets or deep sky objects, I cannot see how you can track the comet.

Re: Comet NEOWISE

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 6:50 am
by oopfan
julietdiane,

I'll let Menno reply but my guess is that he let AutoStakkert do the work. I'm not familiar with AutoStakkert but I am familiar with DeepSkyStacker (DSS). DSS has got a "comet mode" where I draw a box around the comet's nucleus. This is "old school" stuff that is even helpful today.

Brian

Re: Comet NEOWISE

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:17 am
by oopfan
donstim,

Nice photo of the comet over Bellevue. WA.

On a map Portland looks to be 200mi away. What the heck is going on?

My theory is that it is "cosmic rays" due to the solar minimum. I figure in a couple years the rioters will wake up from their cosmic-ray-stupor and ask themselves: "what the heck happened?"

Brian

Re: Comet NEOWISE

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 12:41 pm
by umasscrew39
Another pathetic attempt. I have other shots to look at and might be able to stack them.
Neiwise _.jpg
Neiwise _.jpg (720.33 KiB) Viewed 4618 times
Bruce

Re: Comet NEOWISE

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 1:17 pm
by Menno555
julietdiane wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 6:40 am How does your telescope track the comet? My skywatcher only has two tracking options: planets or deep sky objects, I cannot see how you can track the comet.
It's indeed like Brian described: it's just a normal tracking for DSO but then in mind how the comet moves in comparison to the stars. Like in this case it moved from bottom to top in my FOV so I started a bit below. And then in each exposure the stars will stay in the same place and the comet moves but with stacking you can reverse that movement.
The were not enough stars in the capture so DeepSkyStacker could not be used, it needs a certain amount of stars to work with. Otherwise I would have used that because the comet stack feature is great.
So I used AutoStakkert which I had centered on the head of the comet and it's tail and did not indicate any stars.

Menno