A Collection of Comets

[kiwi2]

That's it for now. I hope we get some more comets soon - even another "Great Comet" would be nice. The southern hemisphere has had the last two - McNaught (2007) and Lovejoy (2011). So the way I figure, it's our turn now.

McNaught was indeed an impressive site from the southern hemisphere.

 

[RustierOne]

That's it for now. I hope we get some more comets soon - even another "Great Comet" would be nice. The southern hemisphere has had the last two - McNaught (2007) and Lovejoy (2011). So the way I figure, it's our turn now.

McNaught was indeed an impressive site from the southern hemisphere.

I bet the views of McNaught have provided a set of memories that will last a lifetime. Can you share some of your experiences with McNaught for us jealous northerners?

My 3 great comets (West, Hyakutaki, Hale-Bopp) have left great memories for me.

 

[DLHill]

Wow, Russ. That was so cool to read, it should have been in "Sky and Telescope". Thanks for your hard work putting that together and sharing.

 

[mac01]

Hey Russ, I enjoyed your post so much. One of the best posts I've ever read. Thank you.

Your journey is definitely inspiring to me plus you've some really great photos there. You remind us that astro is a long and wonderful hobby filled with great memories.

Thank you for sharing and all the best to you.

Chris

 

[RustierOne]

Thanks Darren (DLHill) and Chris (Mac01) for your comments and kind thoughts. I must admit that I have read the original post a number of times. While all the typos and grammar errors stand out, the account is still quite thrilling to me. Before assembling this writeup all the observations presented here had been buried in two written volumes and various photographic records. It was bit of work to pull these together, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I hope we all can add to our personal history with future comets on the way to Earth's vicinity. They certain give us a wide variety from dim smudges to spectacular eye-catching arrays.

--
Best Regards,
Russ

 

[kiwi2]

I bet the views of McNaught have provided a set of memories that will last a lifetime. Can you share some of your experiences with McNaught for us jealous northerners?

I was working evening shifts around that time and finishing at midnight. Have seen quite a few other small comets that were just a bit of a fuzzy star in a pair of binoculars, so I didn't get overly excited about this latest comet.

But then I started hearing on the radio people ringing up thinking they were seeing an aeroplane on fire or something. So I took my camera gear to work with me the next day to have a look for the comet after work. I pulled up at the side of the road in a bit of a darker area and was looking for it towards the west. Couldn't see it so figured it had already set by then. Turned around to get back in the car and holy hell...!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/E7VglZx4lRQOi7Ks1

There it was in the southeast from the horizon to about 45 degrees high. (will link to a few photos so not to intrude too much on the theme of this thread. Click on the photo again to get a better window)

It got smaller and fainter quite quickly over the next few nights but I tried to image it as best I could with the gear I had at the time.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/g83X0oYndEzrGdel1

https://photos.app.goo.gl/H2EY4WLYJrxBXX1f2

--
https://www.flickr.com/gp/158098310@N03/ja5n6b

 

[DLHill]

Fantastic shots!

 

[RustierOne]

Hey Russ, I enjoyed your post so much. One of the best posts I've ever read. Thank you.

Your journey is definitely inspiring to me plus you've some really great photos there. You remind us that astro is a long and wonderful hobby filled with great memories.

Thank you for sharing and all the best to you.

Thanks so much for the kind comments and all your help over the years, Chris. I hope your new job has worked out and you have circumstances to get back into astrophotography. But even if that might not be possible now, I know your love for all things astro- lives within you. Eventually things tend to change - hopefully for the better.

I still have that copy of PixInsight that you help me with years ago. Haven't done much with it since then. My tolerance has lessened for the complexity DSO imaging sometimes brings. But I'm hopeful that I can pursue that sort of imaging from home with some shorter camera lenses. With that in mind I just bought a paper copy of Warren Keller's Inside PixInsight. When that comes I hope to get up to speed with using it. I may even have some older DSO images through telescopes that can be run through. Until the book arrives I've got some test images taken with a 135mm Pentax lens that looks quit sharp at f/3.6. Time will tell how all that works out.

Great to hear from you again, my friend! Take care.

 

[elgol20]

That's it for now. I hope we get some more comets soon - even another "Great Comet" would be nice. The southern hemisphere has had the last two - McNaught (2007) and Lovejoy (2011). So the way I figure, it's our turn now.

McNaught was indeed an impressive site from the southern hemisphere.

I bet the views of McNaught have provided a set of memories that will last a lifetime. Can you share some of your experiences with McNaught for us jealous northerners?

My 3 great comets (West, Hyakutaki, Hale-Bopp) have left great memories for me.

--
Best Regards,
Russ
Russ, what happend to Halley? did you miss this?
great thread!
--
___
Stefan

 

[RustierOne]

That's it for now. I hope we get some more comets soon - even another "Great Comet" would be nice. The southern hemisphere has had the last two - McNaught (2007) and Lovejoy (2011). So the way I figure, it's our turn now.

McNaught was indeed an impressive site from the southern hemisphere.

I bet the views of McNaught have provided a set of memories that will last a lifetime. Can you share some of your experiences with McNaught for us jealous northerners?

My 3 great comets (West, Hyakutaki, Hale-Bopp) have left great memories for me.

Russ, what happend to Halley? did you miss this?
great thread!
--
___
Stefan

Hi Stefan,

I did see Comet Halley on three different nights. I don't know what happened to it in my original posting. It was in there at one time. I'll have to add that one back in. According to Wikipedia:

"Halley's 1986 apparition was the least favorable on record. The comet and Earth were on opposite sides of the Sun in February 1986, creating the worst viewing circumstances for Earth observers for the last 2,000 years.[91] Halley's closest approach was 0.42 AU.[92] Additionally, with increased light pollution from urbanization, many people failed to even see the comet. It was possible to observe it in areas outside of cities with the help of binoculars.[93] Further, the comet appeared brightest when it was almost invisible from the northern hemisphere in March and April."

So despite the expectations that had built up over the decades, Halley in 1985 was not the spectacle we had expected.

 

[elgol20]

That's it for now. I hope we get some more comets soon - even another "Great Comet" would be nice. The southern hemisphere has had the last two - McNaught (2007) and Lovejoy (2011). So the way I figure, it's our turn now.

McNaught was indeed an impressive site from the southern hemisphere.

I bet the views of McNaught have provided a set of memories that will last a lifetime. Can you share some of your experiences with McNaught for us jealous northerners?

My 3 great comets (West, Hyakutaki, Hale-Bopp) have left great memories for me.

Russ, what happend to Halley? did you miss this?
great thread!
--
___
Stefan

Hi Stefan,

I did see Comet Halley on three different nights. I don't know what happened to it in my original posting. It was in there at one time. I'll have to add that one back in. According to Wikipedia:

"Halley's 1986 apparition was the least favorable on record. The comet and Earth were on opposite sides of the Sun in February 1986, creating the worst viewing circumstances for Earth observers for the last 2,000 years.[91] Halley's closest approach was 0.42 AU.[92] Additionally, with increased light pollution from urbanization, many people failed to even see the comet. It was possible to observe it in areas outside of cities with the help of binoculars.[93] Further, the comet appeared brightest when it was almost invisible from the northern hemisphere in March and April."

So despite the expectations that had built up over the decades, Halley in 1985 was not the spectacle we had expected.

--
Best Regards,
Russ
yes, that was really bad. thanx for answering Russ
--
___
Stefan

 

[Matt Fulghum]

Thanks again, Russ, for compiling this list. I was able to see the last two northern hemisphere Great Comets from very dark skies in rural Alabama and Mississippi, and truly inspiring they were. your photographs of Hale-Bopp really captured it well. it'd really be swell to see another now that the capture is so much simpler.

 

[RustierOne]

Thanks again, Russ, for compiling this list. I was able to see the last two northern hemisphere Great Comets from very dark skies in rural Alabama and Mississippi, and truly inspiring they were. your photographs of Hale-Bopp really captured it well. it'd really be swell to see another now that the capture is so much simpler.

Yeah, those old images were manual-guiding of 5- to 15-minute exposures. Now we can do unguided shorter exposures with better results. Also near instant feedback as to the success (or not) of our efforts. Bring on the Great Comets!

 

[mac01]

Hey Russ, I enjoyed your post so much. One of the best posts I've ever read. Thank you.

Your journey is definitely inspiring to me plus you've some really great photos there. You remind us that astro is a long and wonderful hobby filled with great memories.

Thank you for sharing and all the best to you.

Thanks so much for the kind comments and all your help over the years, Chris. I hope your new job has worked out and you have circumstances to get back into astrophotography. But even if that might not be possible now, I know your love for all things astro- lives within you. Eventually things tend to change - hopefully for the better.

I still have that copy of PixInsight that you help me with years ago. Haven't done much with it since then. My tolerance has lessened for the complexity DSO imaging sometimes brings. But I'm hopeful that I can pursue that sort of imaging from home with some shorter camera lenses. With that in mind I just bought a paper copy of Warren Keller's Inside PixInsight. When that comes I hope to get up to speed with using it. I may even have some older DSO images through telescopes that can be run through. Until the book arrives I've got some test images taken with a 135mm Pentax lens that looks quit sharp at f/3.6. Time will tell how all that works out.

Great to hear from you again, my friend! Take care.

--
Best Regards,
Russ

Hey Russ, it is great to hear from you. I have been sporadic in Astro, to say the least, the last several months. My new job is a research professor now for about a year I guess. A very different life compared to the last 20 years, but it's been a great experience and I'm slowly growing into it. In terms of Astro, very simply, my old equipment doesn't match the new surroundings. The AVX I was using isn't up to the challenge since there's only a sliver of sky to image due to lots of trees and my copy of that mount just does not like meridian imaging. For 8 months before that I was living out of hotels and an apartment and glad that is over with. So now that I'm settled, about to get a new mount and start over in narrowband.

My good friend has the old equipment and is making good use of it so it's lessened the sting of not being in an easy position to image and have been mentoring him PP some very good images (due to his talent)...check DR MAG's Thor posting on DPR from a few months ago as an example. Very talented young person indeed! That's kinda my new job now, learning from young people smarter than me and trying to help them along the way the best I can. That's why your post is so inspiring to me...showing how important patience and experience is when combined with drive and intelligence to produce excellent results. Again, great post!

For PI, if you have some older images to process please contact me. I'm itching not only to image but somehow remember the hardest part...post-processing and you've taken the best subs I've ever processed...far better than anything I've done with a dslr.

I'll be getting a psuedo-fixed observatory setup in the next few weeks and getting back into Astro very soon. I love being outside at night. Quiet and cool temps. No phones, no one asking for things. Just you and the scope and for me now Charlie the cat, squirrels and deer (or in your case the Elk). Just magic.

Take care my friend and I hope you all the best

Chris

 

[RustierOne]

That's it for now. I hope we get some more comets soon - even another "Great Comet" would be nice. The southern hemisphere has had the last two - McNaught (2007) and Lovejoy (2011). So the way I figure, it's our turn now.

McNaught was indeed an impressive site from the southern hemisphere.

I bet the views of McNaught have provided a set of memories that will last a lifetime. Can you share some of your experiences with McNaught for us jealous northerners?

My 3 great comets (West, Hyakutaki, Hale-Bopp) have left great memories for me.

Russ, what happend to Halley? did you miss this?
great thread!
--
___
Stefan

Hi Stefan,

I did see Comet Halley on three different nights. I don't know what happened to it in my original posting. It was in there at one time.

Now the original posting shows Comet 1P/Halley as #11 on the list. It was gone for a while, but now back where it originally was. Some quirk on DPReview must have caused it to be missing in action for a while.

I'll have to add that one back in.

I don't recall adding it back in. Such was not possible with the original post, since it had numerous replies. But I'm glad the record is complete now.

I hope we all can add to our personal comet list with this year's events.

 

[RustierOne]

Tonight (2019 December 25) I was able to see Comet/2017 T2 PanSTARRS with my Celestron-11 XLT on G11 mount w/ Gemini-1. Here's the observation in my logbook for the 28th entry in my Collection of Comets.

• Faint glow of the comet's coma was immediately seen @ 73X next to a 9.6 magnitude star. There was a minute star-like nucleus @ 160X - also seen @ 352X, both using averted vision. A suggestion of a short tail was evident, also with averted vision. Along with a faint (11.8 mag.) star the comet forms a right triangle with 9.6 mag. star. The 11.8 mag. star is at the 90° vertex.

Though not an especially bright comet, it may well get brighter in the coming months. If that should occur then I may break out some photographic gear.

Kind Regards,

Russ

 

[sharkmelley]

It's good to see a new one added to your list!

Mark

 

[starman1969]

Very good Russ. A superb collection there. I'm a bit of a latecomer to astronomy, so I didn't see my first comet until I think it was C/2011 L4 Panstarrs, but what an amazing sight it was. I've seen most of the bright ones since then, only had a bit of a blank this year with the last comet sighting being Wirtanen late 2018.

 

[Wildbegonia]

WOW! Magnifique! Thank you for sharing your photos.

 

[RustierOne]

WOW! Magnifique! Thank you for sharing your photos.

Thanks for the kind comment, Wildbegonia. I'm pleased that some have found this thread to be interesting. It has been fascinating to see these objects over the years. When will the next great comet appear?