Comet NEOWISE - July 22/23/24, 2020

Comet NEOWISE was extremely difficult to see via the naked eye. You couldn't stare directly at it, as it is really dim. You needed to look a little off axis in order to use the B&W cones of your eyes. Then you got to see the hazy tail.

Otherwise you used binoculars and/or a telescope. Even trying to take photos can be a chore, as long exposures and a high ISO were a must. Many astrophotographers have gottn images of the coment with various lenses and exposures. With the lenses that I have, I feel that I really needed to have a star tracker with a better tripod. The camera is a Nikon D850 (FX) and the lenses used were a Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 and an old Nikkor 500mm f/8.

What I captured pales compared to many of the great images that have been posted. At least I can say that I have photographed the comet. See the links below for images from other photographers.

Location of photoshoot: 43° 3' 40.10" N / 89° 36' 3.11" W (July 22, 2020) Time given in image's EXIF data is UTF.
300mm f/8 @ 15 sec ISO 6400	32mm f/8 @ 10 sec ISO 6400 Streak at the right is a satellite reflection.	32mm f/8 @ 10 sec ISO 6400
300mm f/8 @ 10 sec ISO 6400	300mm f/6.3 @ 4 sec ISO 25600 Taken ~3hrs later. Light polution from Cross Plains, WI

Location of photoshoot: 43° 3' 40.10" N / 89° 36' 3.11" W (July 23, 2020) Time given in image's EXIF data is UTF.
35mm f/4 @ 4 sec ISO 25600 (10 images Stacked)	300mm f/6.3 @ 10 sec ISO 25600 Streak at the right is a satellite reflection.	300mm f/6.3 @ 10 sec ISO 25600

Location of photoshoot: 42° 58' 50.73" N / 90° 18' 36.52" W (July 24, 2020) Time given in image's EXIF data is UTF.
35mm f/4 @ 5 sec ISO 12800 Airplane (6 images combined)	35mm f/4 @ 8 sec ISO 12800 (10 images stacked)	300mm f/6.3 @ 13 sec ISO 25600 Satellite (2 images combined)
500mm f/8 @ 13 sec ISO 25600	500mm f/8 @ 13 sec ISO 25600	28mm f/4 @ 10sec ISO 25600 Milky Way (10 images stacked) The better time to shoot the Milky Way for color is in May.

Stacker software: Deep Sky Tracker

Links

• Comet NEOWISE’s tails
• These Are the Best Photos of This Year's Newly-Discovered Comet
• Comet NEOWISE Streaks Across the Sky Above Lone Pine Lake in Stunning NASA Image
• Amazing photos of Comet NEOWISE from the Earth and space
• Astronomy Picture of the Day
• How to See Comet NEOWISE
• Check Out These Amazing Images Of Comet Neowise Taken From Around The World
• Comet Neowise's spectacular journey – in pictures
• Photo gallery: Comet NEOWISE shines in the morning sky
• Comet Neowise, visible in Bay Area evening sky, makes closest approach to Earth
• Stunning pictures show Comet Neowise streaking over skies across the world
• The biggest comet in 25 years is dazzling stargazers all over the world. Here are the best photos and videos they've taken so far.

Last modified on Friday, 07-Aug-2020 01:03:23 CDT.