Comet 17P/Holmes

If you have binoculars or a telescope, Comet 17P/Holmes is quite a sight to see. Spaceweather has a finder chart. I took some pictures tonight, but haven't downloaded them yet. I'll post one of my better ones tomorrow night.

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Permalink Reply by Planet Space on December 9, 2007 at 7:16pm: Hi Mike, how did it go? Did you get any good pictures you can share with us?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike Gerszewski on December 10, 2007 at 7:21pm: I just posted two images.

This was taken with my 8" f/5 newtonian and a Canon Digital Rebel XT at prime focus on 10/25/07:

This was taken a couple of weeks later when I got a chance to use a telescope that the Fargo-Moorhead Astronomy Club uses (I was in Fargo for a conference). Same camera, 18" f/4.5 JMI NGT scope, 11/7/07:; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Planet Space on December 11, 2007 at 8:10am: Those are great Mike! Really cool. I need to get into astrophotography, really beautiful stuff. Thanks for sharing with us. Are there particular objects that you prefer to take pictures of? How long have you been taking pictures for?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike Gerszewski on December 11, 2007 at 10:26am: I've been doing astrophotography since 1998, when working on the UND Space Studies ACIT project. Back then, it was more for asteroid light curves and testing equipment than for aesthetic value. That was using big and expensive equipment (a 16" Meade LX-200 and eventually a SBIG STL-6303 CCD camera).

At home, I've mostly done some aurora (just a camera on a tripod), but have started doing more at home through a scope. I prefer to do nebulae and galaxies, but when a nice comet like this comes around, I just can't resist. That is until the thermometer reading drops below 10 F. Lately the skies have been quite nice, but winter has finally set in. The lows for the next few days are -10 F.

I have an 8" f/5 newtonian on a Meade LXD-55 mount (not really stable, but sufficient for some short shots), and a Canon Digital Rebel XT with the T-mount adapters to hook it up to my scope. All told, probably $1700 in equipment. If I had the cash on hand, I'd go with a Meade RCX-400 scope, but alas, right now, I can't cost justify it in my mind.; ▶ Reply to This