Pic of the Day

Comet NEOWISE this morning at 4:47 A.M., CDT.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 2 Seconds @ f/4 ISO 640

Comet NEOWISE, this morning at 4:47 A.M., CDT. 

This photo is a cropped version of top photo. In this

cropped version, the split in the tail is more easily seen.

     I was up again this morning to photograph Comet NEOWISE.  A cloud in the northeast obscured the comet until about 4:45, but once it moved out the comet was fantastic!  It is best seen with binoculars.  Here in North Alabama it is but a faint smudge, however the coma is seen as quite star like.  The top photo, full frame by the way, shows the comet over Horse Cove, near Gurley, Alabama.  The split in the tail was more noticeable this morning. This morning was overall better viewing conditions and less humidity in the air than on the morning of the 8^thwhen I photographed the comet.  

The bottom photo is the same one, but it has been cropped.  I included the cropped photo so the split in the tail can be more easily seen.  Just behind the coma, the tail splits into two parts from our angle of view.  While comet NEOWISE is current visible in the northeastern morning sky, by July 14^thyou should be able to see it about an hour after sundown in the northwestern sky.

The comet is currently .91AU’s* (85,128, 736 miles) from Earth.  On July 24 it will be .69 AU’s (64,436,192 miles) from earth.

The following website has good information on viewing the comet.

https://skyandtelescope.org/press-releases/new-bright-visitor-comet-neowise/

* AU is an Astronomical Unit, approx.. 93 million miles.  The distance of the Earth from the Sun.  https://www.britannica.com/science/astronomical-unit)

Comet NEOWISE

This comet bears the name of the satellite that discovered it on March 27th: NEOWISE, an acronym for Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, used to assist NASA’s efforts to identify and characterize the population of near-Earth objects, such as asteroids. And occasionally, as in this case, it also can discover a comet.    https://www.farmersalmanac.com/comet-neowise-july-2020-131179

Pic of the Day

Comet NEOWISE, July 8, 2020; 4:40 A.M., CDT

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4; 4 seconds @ f/4, ISO1600

Comet NEOWISE, July 8, 2020; 4:46 A.M., CDT

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4; 3 seconds @ f/4, ISO1600

    I was up at 2:55 A.M. to photograph Comet NEOWISE this morning. The sky was very thick with humidity and as the clocked ticked toward 4:00 A.M. the fog was so thick I could not even see stars.  With the loss of visibility I packed up and headed home.  About a mile from the house I drove out of the fog to a partly cloudy sky, and with binoculars I found the tail of the comet poking out from behind one of the clouds.  The comet was by my estimation about 7 or 8 degrees below the colorful star Capella.  I stopped on the road, and as the clouds rolled along the comet became visible, off and on.  These two images were taken with the comet just above Horse Cove, near Gurley, Alabama.

This is the brightest comet I have seen in quite a long time.  It should be visible for another week, maybe two, to the naked eye from what I have read.  It has an orbital period of 10,127 years.  I really don't expect to be around to take photos when it returns so I am happy to have taken these photos.

A shout-out to Stan Burman who posted a beautiful photo of this comet on his facebook page yesterday.  His post alerted me to the comet.  Thank you Stan Burman.  You can see his photo on his Ffacebook page.  I have also shared it on my facebook page (Bobby Harrison) as well.

Pic of the Day

Comet Lovejoy, C/2014 Q2 (green dot right of center):

taken from Horse Cove; Gurely, Alabama 

Nikkor 50mm 1.8, 10 seconds @ f1.8, ISO 2500

Comet Lovejoy, C/2014 Q2: taken from Horse Cove; Gurely, Alabama

Nikkon 300mm f2.8; 6 seconds @ f2.8; ISO 5000

     I went out this evening to find Comet Lovejoy.  It is a naked-eye object, but was not very birght.  Once I found it with binoculars it was easy to see without optics.  Comet Lovejoy dosen't have much of a dust tail.  In the bottom photo you can see a spec of the tail (at about 9:00).  With longer exposures the tail is more visible, but the background is much lighter.  According to Sky & Telescope the green glow comes from molecules of diatomic carbon (C2) fluorescing in ultraviolet sunlight.

Learn more at:

www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/spot-comet-lovejoy-tonight-122920141/