fredag 16. januar 2015

Lovejoy is in the air again

A new Lovejoy comet is flying across the sky this month. The weather has been dismal to say the least this season, so I have been waiting and waiting for a break in the weather. Tuesday the 13th, the clouds finally parted in the evening. But this night, I had people over, so I didn't have much time to set up the gear. So I opted for real wide field. I originally thought I'd use my 85mm lens, but ended up using my 180mm telephoto lens. It is not as sharp, but I guessed it would show the comet better. I didn't take my time adjusting the polar axis. And I didn't calibrate the Goto. I probably should have. Cause I spent some time trying to find the comet from maps I had on my phone. But eventually I had it in sight. I set my camera timer to take 70 images of 30 second lengths. I forgot to take flats (it has been a while since last time, so I forgot my routine), so I have had some problems digging the tail out from the background. Since I am shooting from the middle of the city of Oslo, there is some light pollution to take into account. I am not very happy with my result, but considering the effort, I guess I cannot expect more. Hopefully, the weather will clear soon so I can make a REAL shot of this comet. BTW : The reason for the "double star" appearance is that there were some clouds that drifted through the field in the middle of the stack, so I removed those frames...

Tech details : Pentax K5, Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180/2.8 @5.6, ISO 400, 50x30 sec exposures. Stacked on comet in DSS, processed in PS.