Comet Holmes
Submitted by jgarrett on Fri, 01/18/2008 - 8:52am.
Astronomy images
Over 2 months Comet Holmes changed dramatically in size, as shown here. All photos were taken with a Televue 76 (420mm focal length at f6.3). The field of view of the largest image is a little smaller than what you get with a pair of 7x binoculars. As of January 08, the comet is still visible in binoculars. Note that it is now so faint, that I needed to enhance the contrast in the January photo. I could have achieved the same result using a longer exposure, or by stacking images, but time and circumstances didn't allow for that. (I was short on time, and when photograph, Comet Holmes was right in the flight path of a nearby airport. Planes passed through my photos every 3 minutes, limiting my exposure time.
Over 2 months Comet Holmes changed dramatically in size, as shown here. All photos were taken with a Televue 76 (420mm focal length at f6.3). The field of view of the largest image is a little smaller than what you get with a pair of 7x binoculars. As of January 08, the comet is still visible in binoculars. Note that it is now so faint, that I needed to enhance the contrast in the January photo. I could have achieved the same result using a longer exposure, or by stacking images, but time and circumstances didn't allow for that. (I was short on time, and when photograph, Comet Holmes was right in the flight path of a nearby airport. Planes passed through my photos every 3 minutes, limiting my exposure time.