Comet Lovejoy, C/2014 Q2 amid the clusters, nebulas and dark dust clouds of Taurus and Perseus, on Friday, January 16, 2016. Its long blue ion tail stretches back at least 15°, almost to the open cluster NGC 1647 on Taurus at the left edge. At centre is the Pleiades star cluster, M45; at top right is the red California Nebula, NGC 1499, in Perseus, while the field is filled with the dark dusty lanes of the Taurus Dark Clouds. At left is the red giant star Aldebaran amid the V-shaped Hyades star cluster. I turned the field 90° clockwise from the original orientation, putting the “bottom” of the field (the area farthest south and closest to the horizon) at the left edge. North is to the right here. This perhaps provides a “more natural” orientation to the comet for most people. This is a stack of 10 x 2 minute exposures with the Sigma 50mm lens at f/2.5 and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600. Tracked on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer, but not guided. Shot from City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico, Jan 16, 2015.
This is Comet Wirtanen 46P in Taurus on December 14/15, 2018 accompanied by a Geminid meteor, caught by chance of course. Yellowish Aldebaran and the Hyades are at left, the pink California Nebula (NGC 1499) is at right, in Perseus, while the blue Pleiades are at centre. They form a nice colour contrast with the cyan-green comet. The Taurus Dark Clouds of interstellar dust are at top. Comet Wirtanen was two days before its closest approach to Earth and nearly at its brightest. It was visible to the unaided eye. I got a chance to capture this and other views after Chinook clouds cleared off near midnight on Dec 14/15. This is a stack of 5 x 2-minute exposures with the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII camera at ISO 800 with the Sigma 50mm lens at f/2.8. The meteor is from one of those frames. The camera was on the Star Adventurer tracker.
This is Comet Wirtanen 46P in Taurus on December 14/15, 2018 accompanied by a meteor, caught by chance of course. The meteor has left a yellowish “smoke” cloud. Yellowish Aldebaran and the Hyades are at bottom, the pink California Nebula (NGC 1499) is at top, in Perseus, while the blue Pleiades are at centre. They form a nice colour contrast with the cyan-green comet. The Taurus Dark Clouds of interstellar dust are at left. Comet Wirtanen was two days before its closest approach to Earth and nearly at its brightest. It was visible to the unaided eye. I got a chance to capture this and other views after Chinook clouds cleared off near midnight on Dec 14/15. This is a stack of 5 x 2-minute exposures with the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII camera at ISO 800 with the Sigma 50mm lens at f/2.8. The meteor is from one of those frames. The camera was on the Star Adventurer tracker.
