Finally got some clear weather after a cold front passed through. I took these images of Comet 17P/Holmes tonight (11/22/2007) with my Nikon D80 using a Quantaray 300mm zoom lens.
I tracked Mirfak (bright star just below the comet) with my ETX-125EC telescope and piggybacked my camera on top of the telescope.
Mirfak is the brightest star in the constellation Perseus. When the comet clears Mirfak and the Moon doesn't cause problems, I'll be able to get better pictures of the 'Coma' (big dust bubble) and 'Nucleus' (bright center).
17P/Holmes is now bigger than the Moon and I heard is approaching the size of the Sun.
The pictures have a some noise in them caused by a near full moon.
The pictures of 17P/Holmes aren't as good as what observatories produce, but their telescopes cost hundreds of thoudsnds of dollars. Mine cost $500 used.
Keep the Clear Skies Comin'
Star Pilot
3 comments:
Those are great pictures! Hey, for not having an observatory-quality telescope, you are doing pretty darn good!
Those are great pictures! Hey, for not having an observatory-quality telescope, you are doing pretty darn good!
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