Astrophotography - Deep Space Objects (DSO)
- Thread starter Moab Man
- Start date
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
Very nice. How difficult is it to locate?
BF Hammer
Senior Member
Right now it is very near Triangulum galaxy in the evening sky. George is showing Andromeda on the right it appears. Think that is Triangulum upper-left. Still between mag 5 and 6, so go-to telescope mount helps. Still unknown if it will be visible during the total eclipse. It would need to brighten up more.
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Dawg Pics
Senior Member
Yeah, I had looked it up on Stellarium earlier today. I should be able to zone in on it using a wide angle eyepiece on my telescope. I should have clear skies tomorrow.
George probably made the shot in his state. I think he was saying the comet will be visible in the southern hemisphere soon.
George probably made the shot in his state. I think he was saying the comet will be visible in the southern hemisphere soon.
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Dawg Pics
Senior Member
No luck. It is located in a light polluted area and descending as it gets dark enough to see any significant number of stars. I couldn't even see the Pleiades without my scope or binoculars. The view of Jupiter and its moons were nice, and the Orion Nebula looked pretty good in the scope last night. I didn't see the comet, but I did see 3 satellites.
My finder scope on my telescope is shot, so it is no help at all in finding anything faint. I'll mess with it today and see if there is anything I can do to make it focus. Just more stuff to add to my hobbies that I really don't need to spend money on.
My finder scope on my telescope is shot, so it is no help at all in finding anything faint. I'll mess with it today and see if there is anything I can do to make it focus. Just more stuff to add to my hobbies that I really don't need to spend money on.
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
Ok, so I need to retract my previous statement. I pulled up Stellarium to compare the star fields. When I zoom in on Hamal in my image and did some star-hopping, I picked up a very faint smudge where the comet is located. I had been looking on the wrong side of Hamal for some reason. I'll give it a shot again tonight if I have clear skies. I won't get a great image, but that is ok. I have always been fond of searching for dim-fuzzy objects.
I don't have a go-to scope. I have to take a wide-field image, find the object, slew it to the center of the fov and then change to a lens with a smaller fov.
I don't have a go-to scope. I have to take a wide-field image, find the object, slew it to the center of the fov and then change to a lens with a smaller fov.
BF Hammer
Senior Member
Yeah, west-northwest horizon is all tall trees at my darkish sky spot. Just happy with 3 different nights of photography I had on NEOWISE in 2020.
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
I am surrounded by mountains, foothills and two story houses. For anything low in the sky, I would have to drive out to the desert.
I found the comet, but it is so faint that I would need multiple long exposures to get the tail, and I am not equipped to do that.
I am in equipment hell right now. Broken tripods, tripod head plate broken, bad card reader, need a usb hub, and I need a new tripod head and would like to get a star tracker.
If I can process the one sad image I have, I'll post it.
blackstar
Senior Member
Don't give up, Dawg!I am surrounded by mountains, foothills and two story houses. For anything low in the sky, I would have to drive out to the desert.
I found the comet, but it is so faint that I would need multiple long exposures to get the tail, and I am not equipped to do that.
I am in equipment hell right now. Broken tripods, tripod head plate broken, bad card reader, need a usb hub, and I need a new tripod head and would like to get a star tracker.
If I can process the one sad image I have, I'll post it.
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
Ha Ha. Thanks. I went out and did some practice shots even though we had light clouds in the area of the comet. Go figure. I have it in several images, but it is only a diffuse green ball. I'll take it considering the challenges I am having right now. I'll try to get at least one processed tomorrow if possible.
If nothing else, I have the astronomy bug again, but my scope is in really bad condition. The finder scope won't focus, and I probably need to add a counter-weight to the optical tube assembly. The base needs new teflon pads. Hey, it is only money.
I had great views of Jupiter last night.
blackstar
Senior Member
Did you get a shot?
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
I didn't get a shot of Jupiter. I tried with my iPhone, but I couldn't get a lock on it, and it would be overexposed even if I did. I can get a shot using my 600mm lens, but my tripod head doesn't hold the weight of it. I get a lot of drift.
blackstar
Senior Member
Is that the comet? or a bright star?
BF Hammer
Senior Member
The stars in photo are in good focus. That is a fuzzy green coma around the comet you see. I can faintly see a hint of the tail there too. The cloudy haze may be causing that.
blackstar
Senior Member
I did wonder the same thing... (but can't trust my aged eyes... I can faintly see a hint of the tail there too. ...
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
The comet developed a bit of a halo when I boosted the exposure, which kind of makes it look like a tail. The RAW capture was a dim, fuzzy disk, and yes, there was cloud cover in that area, so not a great image. Every night there were clouds in that part of the sky. The area around Orion was pretty clear. Now, the comet will probably be too low in the sky after sundown for me to catch it.The stars in photo are in good focus. That is a fuzzy green coma around the comet you see. I can faintly see a hint of the tail there too. The cloudy haze may be causing that.
I'll enlarge the image and take a better look, but I think the tail is an illusion in this image.
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