Comet ISON
- www.kevin-palmer.com - A few weeks before perihelion, I went out to see and photograph Comet ISON (C/2012 S1). Astronomical twilight started only 20 minutes after the comet was high enough above the horizon. I'm glad I was able to see and photograph it because 2 weeks later, the comet burnt up by the sun. On this night ISON could just barely be seen as a fuzzy green point of light in binoculars. Through an 8" dobsonian telescope it looked fairly small but beautiful. Since the comet was in Virgo, several small galaxies can also be seen in this picture. This was shot with a 135mm lens and is made up of 15 2-minute exposures, plus bias and dark frames. An iOptron Skytracker was used to track the stars. Spring Lake State Wildlife Area where this was taken has moderately dark skies and a low horizon to the southeast, so it was a great place to view the comet.
Comet ISON
- www.kevin-palmer.com - A few weeks before perihelion, I went out to see and photograph Comet ISON (C/2012 S1). Astronomical twilight started only 20 minutes after the comet was high enough above the horizon. I'm glad I was able to see and photograph it because 2 weeks later, the comet burnt up by the sun. On this night ISON could just barely be seen as a fuzzy green point of light in binoculars. Through an 8" dobsonian telescope it looked fairly small but beautiful. Since the comet was in Virgo, several small galaxies can also be seen in this picture. This was shot with a 135mm lens and is made up of 15 2-minute exposures, plus bias and dark frames. An iOptron Skytracker was used to track the stars. Spring Lake State Wildlife Area where this was taken has moderately dark skies and a low horizon to the southeast, so it was a great place to view the comet.