Thursday, March 14, 2013

Comet Pan-STARRS

Photo Fail

Comet Pan-STARRS has been near the western horizon just after sunset the past few days. I spent several days battling clouds and poor viewing locations before I managed to see the comet in binoculars for the first time on March 13th during a 20-minute viewing window from 7:57 to 8:17 pm EDT. On March 14th I found the comet more quickly in momentarily clearer skies.

My photo attempt on March 14th was pathetically inadequate. It was hard to operate the camera in the cold 20 MPH wind. My hands were soon frozen. Only one image was worth keeping. The comet is very small in the image below. Can you see it in blue sky slightly above center?
Comet Pan-STARRS is barely visible here. (Click for a larger image.)
The comet looked very nice in binoculars. It was quite bright and displayed a nice tail. Too bad I couldn't capture these details in a good image.

1 comment:

  1. I can see it, barely. Must have been cool with the binoculars!

    ReplyDelete

People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin
When I say that I'm o.k. well they look at me kind of strange
Surely you're not happy now you no longer play the game

People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me
When I tell them that I'm doing fine watching shadows on the wall
Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go

John Lennon