Comet

[RockOne]

View of comet McNaught from Australia. Finally manged to catch a glimpse of it last night - finally no clouds or haze. Taken with EOS-300D and 50-500mm.

[wakko]

Great shots RockOne.

Got a bit of a hot pixel there?

[calicokat]

Nice capture, love #2

[dpastern]

Wow Steve, excellent shot. I forgot all about the Comet last night, so missed it...looks like it's hanging around a bit longer, at least until the sky gets darker and there's a bit more contrast between the Comet and the background sky. This makes my shot look totally crap :(

Dave

[hvman]

Awesome contrast there! What focal length was that taken at if you don't mind me asking?

[michael_]

wah, what part of NSW were these taken from?

[dpastern]

Well, I managed to get plenty of shots tonight, not sure how well they've turned out, but what an awesome sight. Thanks Steve for making me want to go out and spot the comet!!!

Dave

[Nymphalidae]

Nice shot!

Nymph

[Greg_C]

Nice shots Steve.

[RockOne]

Thanks All.

HVMAN - the shooting data are -
1st Pic - 25sec / f8 / iso100 / FL 137mm
2nd Pic - 4 sec / f8 / iso100 / FL 500mm

CIDER - Pics were taken from northen Hunter Valley

The weather was kind again last night so had another go. Seemed to be a bit higher and have slightly more contrast against the darker sky. Simply amazing to be outside after a day where the mercury was nudging 40 celcius taking photos of a ball of ice :-).
One from last night. 10sec / f4 / iso400 / FL 50mm. Cropped slightly to remove a street light :-).

[jasestu]

I was lucky, the first night I went out looking for it we had a clear enough sky. I thought about improving my effort last night, but there was just too much cloud cover. Here's what I managed to grab on the 19th:

[RockOne]

Jason, the detail in the tail of that comet is great. Is that Mount Edgecumbe?

[dpastern]

Lovely image Jason, if you don't mind me asking, what settings were used? I'm seeing a fair bit of difference in settings between what Steve used, and what I used for my shot, and I'm trying to gauge if there's issues with either my sensor or metering (or both). I do not believe that light polution would drop things by around 5 stops...

Dave

[jasestu]

Good spotting Steve, Mt Edgecumbe indeed.

I love the orange of the comet in your shots - that's more from the fires and dust rather than PP yeah?

[jasestu]

Dave, over the hour that I was shooting I experimented with a wide range of exposures. Some of the early ones were 1.6 s, f5.6, ISO100. By 10pm (NZ time) it was getting quite dark and I was doing some 30 s, f4.0, IS400. The one above was an 8 s, f4.0, ISO1600 (with some pretty significant noise reduction since ISO1600 on the 400D is ULGY!)

[RockOne]

The orange colouration is indeed due to some sort of particulates in the air - seemed to be a bit less last night but still not 100% clear.

[dpastern]

Dave, over the hour that I was shooting I experimented with a wide range of exposures. Some of the early ones were 1.6 s, f5.6, ISO100. By 10pm (NZ time) it was getting quite dark and I was doing some 30 s, f4.0, IS400. The one above was an 8 s, f4.0, ISO1600 (with some pretty significant noise reduction since ISO1600 on the 400D is ULGY!)

Cool. 8s f4 ISO 1600 equates to the settings that I worked out - 8 secs, f2.8 ISO 800. That makes me feel much better! I was so excited last night that I didn't really play too much with the exposure settings (and I'm totally kicking myself now). I'm hoping for clear skies tonight, but the weather forecast isn't too hopefull - increasing cloud cover, rain tomorrow). All I need is half an hour, from 8.45pm to 9.15pm. If I get that, I'll be in bliss!!!

Thanks for posting your settings, makes me feel a lot better.

Dave

[catsith]

good shots steve

wow jason, well taken

[jasestu]

Was able to have a second attempt last night thanks to a clear sky:

[wakko]

oh wow!!! beautiful Jason!!!

[Reefbone]

Wow Jason... very cool.

[S Taylor]

Wow Jason! Those are by far the best shots of McNaught that I've seen. Beautiful exposures.

[Shasta]

Awesome shots.

[dpastern]

Well, this is my sad attempt from last night...first it was cloudy, then it cleared in the western skies, then we had some low scooters coming in, partially covering the comet...then the clouds rolled in from the south east, ruining any chance of an even better image...we've also got bushfires near us, so we're getting cloud/smoke from them...this is one of the earlier shots, as it got darker (but still not totally dark), I got a few more, but it seems that I bumped the focusing ring and all shots are OOF. I was pretty upset...tonight doesn't look any good cloud wise, and the moon will be near quarter, so the light from that will probably ruin any further chance. I'm very disappointed with the weather in Sydney, it's been absolutely horrid whilst the comets been on show. At least this shot came out better, 6 secs, f4, ISO 400.

Dave

[no5094]

very cool

[RockOne]

Jason those are just magic !.
Had the sma eprobs here last night too Dave. Cloudy and hazy, but it was somewhat visible, but the photo ops were very limited and didn't get very good results. Might be OK tonight but I doubt it - looks a little smoky around at the moment.

[gjl711]

Ok, maybe its me but when the comet first showed up it was heavy overcast here in Illinois. The first day it finally cleared up it was too close to the sun, thus not visible. But tonight I went out and still could not see it. I am assuming that these were taken just after sunset, no? Is there something different I need to do because I'm in the northern hemisphere? Maybe view at sunrise?

[mtblackdog]

wow, nice work you guys

[RockOne]

Not sure if it would be visible from much of the northern hemisphere at the moment. I am looking to the south to pick it up.

[gjl711]

Not sure if it would be visible from much of the northern hemisphere at the moment. I am looking to the south to pick it up.Hmm.. maybe it's time for e to bone up on celestial mechanics . It's been a long time, but it seems we all look at the same sun, no? Maybe I need to look farther south. Hopefully it will stay clear tomorrow. Thanx. BTW, how far south from where the sun sets?

[jasestu]

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm really pleased with the results. It's certainly worth the 30 minute drive each night to get to the right spot. Once in a lifetime event and all that (unless another previously undiscovered and equally as bright comet happens to come along).

I keep wishing I had some faster glass and a full frame camera though. That said, even the ulgy ISO 1600 from the 400D cleans up okay with some heavy noise reduction for this type of low detail image.

but it seems that I bumped the focusing ring and all shots are OOF. I was pretty upset...

I know that feeling! Lost a few on the first night once it got too dark to focus because I didn't know exactly where infinity was on my 17-55 mm. Lesson learnt, I made a point of noting down where to set it...

[verty]

Was able to have a second attempt last night thanks to a clear sky:

amazing shots dude!
i attempted shots of the comet but in sydney city so you could imagine the light polution!

need to head out in the country for mad shots!

[verty]

my pics from the comet just infront of the sydney star observatory in sydney city.. pretty lame ;)

[verty]

last one...

[dpastern]

amazing shots dude!
i attempted shots of the comet but in sydney city so you could imagine the light polution!

need to head out in the country for mad shots!

It's possible to get decent shots from Sydney's suburbs, my first shots from the other night showed good tail detail, and last night would have been just as good if not for the clouds coming in before the skies were totally dark, thus robbing me of maximum contrast between the comet and night sky...I want a clear shot at this sucker!!!

Dave

PS yesterday was just one of those days...most of my photography is macro, but my flash/offshoe adaptor are in at Canon Australia for repairs...what did I see yesterday arvo (but didn't have the camera on me of course) - a bloody blue banded bee...that actually damn well stayed still, good pose etc...my screams of agony were surely heard all throughout Hornsby Heights...so, yesterday was just one of those days...

[verty]

It's possible to get decent shots from Sydney's suburbs, my first shots from the other night showed good tail detail, and last night would have been just as good if not for the clouds coming in before the skies were totally dark, thus robbing me of maximum contrast between the comet and night sky...I want a clear shot at this sucker!!!

Dave


yeah but i think that other dude who posted pics from NZ has made our pics look like crap!! yeah of course you can get pics from the burbs but they wont be amazing!

[johnnybfan]

Thanks for sharing with us. I haven't done any night shots yet but these can really get me motivated. Now it's just got to get a little warmer.:)

[RockOne]

Thanx. BTW, how far south from where the sun sets?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_McNaught

From here it just seems to be a long way to the south.

[RockOne]

Verty. The one with the city on the foreground is great. Gives an idea of the scale of the comet. Thats one loooooong tail !

[Reefbone]

Not sure if it would be visible from much of the northern hemisphere at the moment. I am looking to the south to pick it up.

Seems like the Northern Hemispere is not the best place to see it.

http://www.spaceweather.com/

[gjl711]

Seems like the Northern Hemispere is not the best place to see it.

http://www.spaceweather.com/
Boy, this sucks. I have Chicago. When it first showed up I saw the great pics coming from Wisconsin and waited for a break in the clouds. I finally get the break only to have the comet behind the sun. Them more clouds and now no clouds, but no comet either. Well, I'll just have to enjoy all the fine pics. :(

[verty]

Verty. The one with the city on the foreground is great. Gives an idea of the scale of the comet. Thats one loooooong tail !

thankyou :)

i like your pics of it too.. in yours the comet looks like a mean fireball.. its awesome

[Ianfp]

I must admit to being a bit envious of all these Southern Hemisphere comet shots! They are all stunning and better by far than any I have seen taken in the Northern Hemisphere!
Ian