Comets

jrista

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Dec 3, 2011
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Well, this seems to be the month of comets. In addition to Encke, ISON, and the new Lovejoy, four other comets were discovered this month (C/2013 V1 (BOATTINI), C/2013 V2 (BORISOV), C/2013 V3 (NEVSKI), C/2013 V5 (OUKAIMEDEN)). Nevski and Oukaimenden are moving right along. Nevski is passing by the constellation Leo, and Oukaimeden is approaching Jupiter in the sky. Not sure if/when they might put on a show, but currently, we have Encke (a main belt periodic), ISON and Lovejoy sharing the sky and putting on a show for at least binoculars and telescopes.

Given the plethora of cometary beauties moving through the skies right now, I thought it might be worth it to start a Comet thread. I had originally intended to have a Celestron EdgeHD 11" with their DX equatorial tracking mount...but circumstances have left me with only a 600mm f/4 lens. Not particularly ideal, but it allowed me to get a basic shot of Lovejoy:

YuPnnnS.jpg


If you've been photographing comets (especially if you have a tracking mount and a telescope), post em here! Would love to see them!