posted Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 17:30 (+0800), by Martin
Comet McNaught was discovered
by Robert H McNaught on 7 August 2006, and was the brightest comet in over 40 years,
being visible in the Southern Hemisphere in January and February 2007.
I can remember the excitement when Halley's Comet, visible every 75 years, was in our skies.
Because comet viewing is a rare occurance (there's not too many comets that are visible to the naked eye), I wanted to be sure to capture some photos of Comet McNaught.
On 18 January 2007, I took my oldest son out to view the comet. However, cloud cover meant we didn't see anything. A second attempt, on 19 January 2007, was more successful, and took the 4-second exposure shown above.
The tail of the comet is clearly visible, as is the sideways movement of the tail, due to the solar wind.
One of the things I like about this photo is the colour gradients in the sky.
I can remember the excitement when Halley's Comet, visible every 75 years, was in our skies.
Because comet viewing is a rare occurance (there's not too many comets that are visible to the naked eye), I wanted to be sure to capture some photos of Comet McNaught.
Comet McNaught
Champion Lakes, Western Australia
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @87mm, 4 sec, f/4, ISO400
Canon EOS 350D, 70-200mm f/4L @87mm, 4 sec, f/4, ISO400
On 18 January 2007, I took my oldest son out to view the comet. However, cloud cover meant we didn't see anything. A second attempt, on 19 January 2007, was more successful, and took the 4-second exposure shown above.
The tail of the comet is clearly visible, as is the sideways movement of the tail, due to the solar wind.
One of the things I like about this photo is the colour gradients in the sky.
This image is available for purchase as a high-quality card, matted print, mounted print, canvas print or framed print
from redbubble.com.
