Comets are usually named after their discoverer(s) family name, although with science increasingly being the result of large team efforts, the name of the team or project can be more appropriate so is often used.
Comet panSTARRS c/2011 L4
We will be attempting to observe Comet PanSTARRS C/2011 L4 on the 12th March 2013 at the Pavilion. The comet will be 11 degrees above the horizon at 19:00, close to Uranus; the Sun – according to StaryNight pro 4.5 sets at 19:00 so we will want to set up any equipment before sunset.
This will be a challenging observation, the comet is predicted to be close to its brightest but it will be in bright twilight
CAUTION SUN MUST HAVE SET BEFORE YOU USE YOUR BINOCULARS
Stack of 33 images ED80 Canon 600D
Image by Martin Crow
30s exposure Canon 650D Comet is just below centre of image. Image taken at the BAA Winchester Weekend.
Image by Simon Dawes
2013-03-14 Just south of Cahors in France. 200mm lens f5.6 1s exposure ISO 1250
Image by Arthur Cockburn
Comet C/2007 N Lulin
The comet was first photographed by astronomer Lin Chi-Sheng with a 16″ telescope at the Lulin Observatory in Nantou, Taiwan on July 11, 2007. 19-year-old Ye Quanzhi from Sun Yat-sen University in China identified the new object from three of the photographs taken by Lin. 3.
Image by Martin Crow
Contour image of the Lulin’s Coma
(c) Martin Crow
2009-02-27
14 x 30s exposure
Spectra of Comet Lulin by Martin Crow
640×480 Image, by Simon Dawes on 2009-02-27, 20 x 20s exposure
Comet 17P/Holmes
17P/Holmes is a periodic comet (designated by the P in its name), discovered Edwin Holmes on November 6, 1892. Normally a very faint object, Holmes brightened by a factor of half a million, in October 2007 and became visible to the naked eye.
Image by Martin Crow.
Dennings observations implies velocities of around 400 – 500 m/s between the 9th and 16th November 1892
This image by Martin Crow is a subtraction of a 2007/10/29 image against a 2007/11/01 image, in effect it shows the changes in the comet over this short period.
Brightness measurements of Comet Holmes by Martin Crow. The numbers are in the astronomy unit of ‘Magnitude’ so smaller numbers represent a brighter object.
Image Keith Rickard, this image is ‘Larson – Sekanina‘ processed to show the radial detail in the coma
Image by Martin Crow showing some different image processing techniques to bring out specific features of the comet
Image by Martin Crow showing some different image processing techniques to bring out specific features of the comet
Image by Martin Crow showing some different image processing techniques to bring out specific features of the comet
Comet 2004 Q2 Machholz
Martin Crow managed to not only image but also create a short animation, as can be seen below.
Now for the techie stuff:
Each original image was obtained using a Celestron C8 SCT at f3.3 with a MX916 CCD camera. The exposure was 20 seconds and an interval of 60 seconds between shots. The relatively short exposure was designed to give an unsaturated nucleus so that some photometry might be done on it. All of the images were dark frame subtracted and flat fielded prior to processing. Each of the frames is a group of 5 original images converted into and AVI file and then seriously processed in Registax. The resulting images were then save as JPEGs so that they could be opened in Adobe Photo Shop to align each frame.
Comet C/1995 01 Hale-Bopp
This comet is possibly the most widely observed comet of the 20th century, and one of the brightest seen for many decades.
Discovered on July 23, 1995, independently by both Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp. It was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months, and holds the record for unaided eye visibility in modern times.
The Great Comet of 1997 imaged by Arthur Cockburn who took the image while visiting Chepstow Castle. A 30 second exposure on ISO200 film.
The Great Comet of 1997 imaged by Andy Barber, while at Romney Marsh in Kent. Image is a 25 second exposure on ISO1600 film.
The Great Comet of 1997 imaged by Andy Barber, while at Romney Marsh in Kent. Image is a 25 second exposure on ISO1600 film.
Comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutaki
The Great Comet of 1996 imaged by Arthur Cockburn, taken in March 1996 on ISO100 film
The Great Comet of 1996 imaged by Arthur Cockburn, taken in March 1996 on ISO100 film
The Great Comet of 1996 imaged by Arthur Cockburn, taken in March 1996 on ISO100 film
Other Images
Sun | Comets | Mercury | Venus | Atmospheric Optics | Meteors | Auroa and NLC | Moon | Minor Planets | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Messier | Caldwell | All Deep Sky | Conjunctions | Transits | Solar Eclipse | Lunar Eclipse | Wide Field |ISS & Space Junk | Exo-Planets
All images are copyright. Permission must be sought to from the image owner to the use of any of these images.