Comet Neowise.

[gary1701]

All,

 

Shot these a couple of evenings ago between 23:00 and 23:30, looking to the North just outside Stowmarket in Suffolk.

 

First one was a wide angle test shot, as I couldn't find the damn Comet visually despite knowing where it should roughly be. First frame found it inbetween the cables and once I knew exactly where to look I could then see it with the naked eye. The light on the field came from a car approaching behind me.

 

 

Another effort a little closer.

 

 

Gary

Edited July 14, 2020 by gary1701

[spruecutter96]

Two excellent images, my friend. I think the car-headlights in the first shot actually enhance it greatly. I love night-time photography, particularly when it's done to these standards. 

 

Thanks for sharing with us. 

 

Chris. 

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Gary, beautiful photos you've taken. I've only ever seen two comets - Halley's in 1986 and another a bit more recent. Thanks for sharing. Regards, Jeff.

[stevehnz]

I'm jealous, apparently this won't be visible from the Southern Hemisphere, I'd love to see it. Nice photos, it looks great.

Steve.

[gary1701]

Thank you gents. There is a chance the weather may be good enough to try again tonight, will know either way in a few hours.

 

Gary

[gary1701]

Hi Gents,

 

Some more from a late night session last night. I thought initially it was going to be a waste of time as there was still quite a lot of cloud hanging around into the night. Still, I thought I would give it a go so I went to a different location from the previous effort, rather than go North of Stowmarket, I decided to head South in the direction of Wattisham airfield and use the corner of a field that I know that has a good panoramic of the Northern skies. The cloud bank hovering on the Northern horizon wasn't a factor after all, as even with a difference of five days the comet was a lot higher than I expected. It does seem noticeably dimmer though, which is what the astronomers said was likely to happen during July. It is visible to the naked eye, but only just, and you would have to know exactly where to look.

 

Looking North with Stow just out of the image too the right.

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure what the aircraft in the time lapse next to the comet was, as it was quite low, so was either inbound Stansted, or just possibly on the long circuit for Mildenhall, those are about the only two places locally that may have traffic at around 23:30 on a Friday night!

 

 

One final shot just to show that you don't need fancy equipment or a completely isolated location to get the comet. Taken with the camera sitting on top of the car outside my house when I got back home, around midnight. Residential street in the suburbs of a medium sized town, just obviously the street lights are off at that time of night.

 

 

 

A couple of guys who I know went down just outside Cambridge last night to shoot the comet against the dishes of the Mullard observatory. If you guys like when I see their results, which they'll probably post up on flickr I'll link them. Both these guys are fantastic photographers, far more experienced and knowledgeable than me at this kind of photography, so I can't wait too see what they've got.

 

Gary