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Hmm, must be something in the air, this time I drove to the ranges view lookout, 64km north of Port Augusta to photograph a comet. It has been raining for nearly a week and the prediction for the next couple of days was more of the same. There was a clear patch in this area, so of I go. 480 km from home one way. The comet was not exciting for non astronomers, so I wont bore you with that but whilst waiting for it to rise above the northern horizon I played with a sigma 8mm lens and some long exposures. Here is the result,

Gorgeous BigV !!!!
So only 480 km one way huh?? I thought you were more dedicated than that !!!
What is the cause of the red lines from the left - is it planes or something else ?????

Beautiful image. Well deserved result after such a long drive.
How long was the exposure?

very different....... puts you in a spin...... but I like the result

Excellent! Beautiful. So where is the comet?

Alex

The light on the left are road trains on their way to Roxby Downs or Alice Springs. The exposure was 48 minutes 800 ISO f4 - as for the comet, it was a small orange dot in the northern slies low on the horizon, definately not impressive but was different to most because we are seeing it from end on and normally we see them side on and that is why they usually have a tail. The only reason I bothered to go and see it is because it is usually abot mag 18, which means you cant see it through most small telescopes but a few days ago it brightened to mag 3.5, meaning it was easily visible naked eye. It also means it changed its brightness by a factor of thousands and that is rare.

very nice shot Tony
only 480 klm lol
thats a drive to Adelaide & back for me
Nice shot mate I really like it
I will be 226 klm South east of Cooper Pedy Next weekend. Seeing our middle son Warren jr who works on a sheep station called Mulgathering Station. I haven't got a 8mm lens but might try some long exposures while up there
Nothing else to do after 9.30 pm thats when they turn off the generator lol
warren aka aussichef

i don;t mean to sound stupid but are star trails always circular ? i have only ever seen them straight across the sky. the pic is absolutely beautiful.

tony
always love your astral shots !! dont forget if you come anywhere near whyalla for some shots give me a call !!!!!

cheers rob

Rooz asked

are star trails always circular ?

This is because the camera is aimed at the South Celestial Pole around which the stars rotate.
Fantastic effect isn't it?

Love the star trails, great shot

Yes, if you aim the camera at the SCP,you will get circles, if you aim north - you get semi circles and when you aim west or east you will get stright lines. The picture on the front page I did for the chimp magazine shows star trails that were taken looking to the west, nice and straight. Rob, thought about giving you a ring but it was 10pm as I was going through the port..

Awesome work, I know that lookout/rest bay well!

Stupid question but how do you align to the SCP? Hit me with the astronomy guff!

Aligning on the SCP, extend a line through the long axis of the southern cross and then bisect this line with one extended from the mid point of the pointers.. That is a quick and dirty way but it works..

Big V
Is now the time to tell them it was hand-held?

Matt, now there is a thought, it would be alot quicker just to rotate the camera hmmm think of all the time I could save..

Big V wrote:Aligning on the SCP, extend a line through the long axis of the southern cross and then bisect this line with one extended from the mid point of the pointers.. That is a quick and dirty way but it works..

Just to clarify ... Once you find the midpoint between the pointers is the line extended at 90deg until it intersects the other ?

Deb T

Deb, you got it!

what direction is the comet in and what time does it appear?

been wanting to find it but skies have been cloudy for the last week

Comet holmes is very very low in the north and I do mean low, from Adelaide it is only the width of a finger above the horizon, that is why I drove so far north to get a better view. 2.00 am is about the time you get a very good view.

Big V wrote:Comet holmes is very very low in the north and I do mean low, from Adelaide it is only the width of a finger above the horizon, that is why I drove so far north to get a better view. 2.00 am is about the time you get a very good view.

better find a nice clear hill then [if the clouds ever go]

thanks for that.