Saturday, December 1, 2007

Astrophotography At 20 Degrees

Beautifully clear last night--and incredibly cold because of it. (Okay, those of you in the Dakotas would probably be putting on swimsuits for 20 degree weather--but for me, a Southern California boy, this was cold.)

The comet is showing more and more tail. It is still pretty subtle, but you can see that there is more than just a single fuzzy blob to it. I also used the 8" f/7 reflector this time--and unsurprisingly, it showed a lot more detail than the refractor. (More light.)

Unfortunately, my attempts at taking pictures weren't so successful. I wasn't aimed as precisely on celestial north, and I wasn't prepared to spend the time getting properly aimed. Way too cold!

Mars is bright, and there's a very noticeable disc (even at 45x), but it is still too low in the sky to get much detail yet.

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