Comet Hale-Bopp and other night sky photos

Photographing the night sky is a lot of fun, but the earth's rotation really makes it challenging to get a sharp image while still exposing the film correctly. Too long, and the stars turn into streaks of light. Too short, and you get nothing at all. Does anyone have a working tracking device I can build that won't cost an arm and a leg? Email me.

Comet Hale-Bopp.

We were fortunate to have a great location for viewing the comet. As you can see, this is a "twin tail" comet. The lower, white tail is the dust and gas being blown off the surface by the solar wind. The upper, blue tail is a trail of ions that is being released by the Sun's radiation.
This was taken with a 500mm catadioptric lens f/8 at about a 20 second exposure.

.

This is a time exposure (1-2 min.) facing NE from our house. The stars form streaks that center around the north star, out of the image on the left side.

.

Orion
The three bright stars of his belt are in the center of the image. The red "blob" below is the Crab Nebula which forms the center of Orion's sword.

---

This Page Hosted by Get your own Free Home Page