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Comet ISON Brightens 16X, Now Naked Eye Object

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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36 thoughts on “Comet ISON Brightens 16X, Now Naked Eye Object”

  1. 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!

  2. 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).

  3. 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.

  4. 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 ?

  5. +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.

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