The huge Comet McNaught seen in 2007 with Chris in the foreground to give an idea of scale.
“Continue reading” for more details and photos of this remarkable comet.
This photo of Comet McNaught (Comet C/2006 P1) was taken in Bunbury Western Australia on Jan 21, 2007 and took over an hour on my 3rd night to get the exposure, focus and composition right. I was just about to shoot the “big one” when the sprinklers started on the grassed area I was on. I had to grab all my gear then come back, cover the sprinkler and recompose. An eventful night but I am reasonably happy with the shot. Comet McNaught was brighter and moon dimmer a few nights prior but the clouds magically cleared just out of view for the final hour. The moon and surrounding street lights do give a lot of light pollution. Having a person for perspective is so important or you don’t have a sense of scale. I have seen this in the foreground in only one or two comet shots by others. It was quite windy as you can see from the blurry bushes near the fence. I did look at a few other spots that night but the fence was a big plus, still allowing views to the water for the moon reflections and also the distant town lights. The rightmost speck of light on the horizon is the Dunsborough lighthouse.
It was a 3 minute exposure hence the streaky stars. Chris (my son) was propped in a comfortable position against the post to reduce body sway in the wind which was moderate hence the blurred bushes. He was under strict instructions not to move a muscle or he would have to do it again. Sometimes (?often) teenagers are good at doing nothing
A couple of people have queried the “full” moon, but the glare of the crescent saturates everything. It is seen clearly with a 0.3 sec exposure as opposed to 3 minutes. Someone even sent me a photoshopped version with the crescent made visible. Sorry, I don’t fake it with photoshop ever.
This photo made it to the cover of the Chinese Amateur Astronomer journal.
My Comet McNaught photo also made it to the International Comet Quarterly and to page 3 of our local paper. As someone said: “WOW – 50% off sale”
Spectators at dusk
The best photo of the sky I have ever seen is one from Antii Kemppainien which shows fireworks on Australia Day plus lightning from a nearby thunderstorm plus the comet in a gap in the clouds.
Above: A street light composition.
Related pages
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External links
Comet McNaught – Wikipedia
Google+ post: Sept 23, 2011
Photo Date: Jan 21 2007