any one get pics of panstarr comet plz post

BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
It's supposed to be visible as of yesterday. Just after sunset at 270 degrees in my location (41 degrees North lat). Unfortunately, as pretty as clouds can make a sunset, they block the comet. I'm gearing up for shooting. I have no clear view of that horizon from my home, so I'm off to find a nice shooting spot with a clear view of that horizon at lunch today. Thankfully there are some nice hilltops around. I'll be sure to post any if I get them. They say peak viewing will be the 12th and 13th very close to the crescent moon.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
No picture, but I got to see it for a minute tonight during a lucky break in the clouds. The sky was still quite pink at the horizon but I was able to spot it with binoculars right after the crescent moon sank and the pink faded.
 
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Moab Man

Senior Member
Looks like I am the first! Woohoo! We were never able to see it with our eyes. Fortunately, from having done my night star shot, I learned that the camera can see so much more light than our eyes can. Knowing this I started shooting some long exposure shots of where I knew it was supposed to be. Then... boom! There it was. Knowing where it was we still couldn't see it.

Focal length: 160
ISO: 400
Aperture: F8
Exposure: 10"
Time: 20:31 Mountain time zone

Comet.jpg
 
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patrick in memphis

Senior Member
nice job moab man . a couple of friends and i went out this evening from 630 until 830pm cst . we did see it here in memphis. yes it was roughly 270-280 deg and to the left upper side of the moon. it was not nearly as bright as we expected. i learned a hard lesson tonight.bring everything!!!!!! we had two d3100 set up one with the 18-55mm and the other with the 55-300mm. we used a refractor telescope to find the bugger. he was white with two ion trails one off of each side. i took abunch of photos but did not get it to show with the 18-55. i will get the other memory card and check it out tomorrow.moab what settings were you using?it really irritates me that i forgot my t-ring to hook camera to the telescope.did i mention bring everything!!!!lol.hopefully will get a chance tomorrow (again)
 
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Moab Man

Senior Member
We were never able to see it with our eyeballs. I'm glad I started blindly shooting in the direction I knew it to be.

First Picture
Focal length: 160
ISO: 400
Aperture: F8
Exposure: 10"
Time: 20:31 Mountain time zone
 
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Moab Man

Senior Member
No filters. Even removed my UV filter so nothing could block the light. The whole trick was long exposure (10_15 seconds) test shots so that the early night sky was nearly daylight and the moon all the way to the right. Kept shooting test shots until it showed up faintly and then I reframed my shot. My early shots started at an ISO of 200 and eventually moved to 400 as the darkening sky and movement of the moon kind of uglied the moon. I will shoot again tomorrow, clouds permitting, and I will start at ISO 300 early on. Hope this helps.

One more thing. While still light, but after sunset, i set the auto focus on the moon and then switched the lens to manual to keep it there. VR off because the camera was on the tripod.
 
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BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Nicely done and good information. It's supposed to get higher in the sky over the next couple days, so it should be slightly less obscured by the sunset, but it's good to know what you're looking for. We lose the moon as any kind of guide after tonight. We were socked in by clouds tonight, though it's crystal clear this morning. They're showing "possible PM showers" so I'm not optimistic, but I scouted out a hill location with a great view of 270-310 degrees west, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
 
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vmcdonald

Senior Member
Here's one from tonight taken in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Unfortunately there were a lot of lights behind me that lit my foreground up quite a bit.

DSC_0332_zpsfd541752.jpg

Focal length: 55
ISO: 400
Aperture: F7.1
Exposure: 10"
 
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