Comet Lovejoy Basking in the Near Full Moonlight!

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WCGucfa
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Comet Lovejoy Basking in the Near Full Moonlight!

Unread post by WCGucfa »

Hey Guys,
With feeling in my fingers fully returned:

Even with the one day old, or so, Full Moon rivaling my neighbors' wind tripped motion detector floodlights,
Lovejoy, always the show-off, kicked off his sandals and soaked up the spray from the stars of Eridanus the River.


1/5/2015. 6" Antares refractor, Canon T1i, 30s, ISO1600, afocal w/40mmEP, Tungsten WB. Single frame unprocessed. air Temp 16F
Image

Bill G.
Last edited by WCGucfa on Thu Jan 08, 2015 1:40 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
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Apollo XX
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Re: Comet Lovejoy Basking in the Near Full Moonlight!

Unread post by Apollo XX »

Very pretty Bill! The blue hue due to that 99% moon is very fitting. The fact that you got no tail at 30s ISO1600 certainly means that I wasn't getting any tail while observing it visually at the same time you were imaging it - but I could have sworn I was. I must've had a case of averted imagination going on there! Maybe it was the cold affecting my brain? :shock: :mrgreen:
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
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AndyG
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Re: Comet Lovejoy Basking in the Near Full Moonlight!

Unread post by AndyG »

Beautiful #38!
Andy
Bruce D
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Re: Comet Lovejoy Basking in the Near Full Moonlight!

Unread post by Bruce D »

Great image!
Bruce D
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WCGucfa
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Re: Comet Lovejoy Basking in the Near Full Moonlight!

Unread post by WCGucfa »

Thanks, guys. My exposures aren't long enough or stacked enough to capture the tail.
As most of you know, my second goal in imaging comets is to show the proof I saw the snowball (there's some kind of insecurity there).
The first goal is to show what the comet looked like in the scope, binoculars etc.
Last but not least, a shot every 30 seconds makes a smooth gif movie for my records.

Images showing the tail, show a very long and thin, low magnitude ribbon.
Check out Lovejoy's tail in the photo on Spaceweather.com today, Jan. 8. You may have to scroll down. Beautiful!

BG
Last edited by WCGucfa on Thu Jan 08, 2015 1:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
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Paul D
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Re: Comet Lovejoy Basking in the Near Full Moonlight!

Unread post by Paul D »

Bill,

You are the man. LOL.. I still haven't seen Lovejoy yet. Hopefully this weekend will cooperate and I will finally get this fuzzy snowball in an eyepiece. Congratulations on yet another notch your comet belt.
Paul...

16" f/5 Night Sky Truss (Midnight Mistress)
10" f/5 Home built Dob with Parks mirror.
Pre-Meade PST
Celestron Skymaster Binos 25-125x80
Meade Travelview Binos 10x50

See that 16" in the sleek black dress? She is all mine. :)
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BobSikes
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Re: Comet Lovejoy Basking in the Near Full Moonlight!

Unread post by BobSikes »

Nice going Bill,

Amazing you could get that much coma with the Moon so bright.

BobS
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Paul D
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Re: Comet Lovejoy Basking in the Near Full Moonlight!

Unread post by Paul D »

Bill,

I finally got to observe Lovejoy in my 10x50s and Bob M 25x100 binos. What a wonderful comet, big and bright with a hint of a tail in binos. On Monday I plan to observe it in a scope. I never get tired of looking at these things.
Paul...

16" f/5 Night Sky Truss (Midnight Mistress)
10" f/5 Home built Dob with Parks mirror.
Pre-Meade PST
Celestron Skymaster Binos 25-125x80
Meade Travelview Binos 10x50

See that 16" in the sleek black dress? She is all mine. :)
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