The sky was beautifully clear and dark here in east Norfolk last night, so I put my camera on a tripod and had a bash at photographing this faint periodic comet. Despite being just magnitude 7.5, it was surprisingly easy to find, thanks to its position in the 'bowl' of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) Using a highish ISO (12,800) I managed the classic 'fuzzy ball' shot you can see below. (Images 2 and 3 are actual photos!)
It really is time we had another Great Comet like those of 1910, whose heads were just above the horizon while their tails reached up to the zenith. One of these two was, of course, Halley's Comet: the Earth actually passed through its tail on that occasion, causing all kinds of dire warnings and 'end of days' prophecies!
No comments:
Post a Comment