FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

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FFLpilot
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FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by FFLpilot »

In the last 24 hours Comet ISON has become significantly brighter, now naked-eye visible from dark areas. The images below were captured this morning at about 5:45 AM from Golden (in the image of South Table Mtn., the comet is the green spot about 1/5th of the way down from the top, in the center).

If you're interested in seeing more including a time-lapse and an animated GIF showing 17 minutes of comet movement, additional details can be found here.

Hope we'll see more of this one, especially after Thanksgiving when it rounds the sun and it moves to the north of the sun as it departs!

-Jeff
Comet ISON over South Table Mountain
Comet ISON over South Table Mountain
001_131115-5D_27400-blog_640v.jpg (75.17 KiB) Viewed 3934 times
Close-up using 5D MkIII + 70-200/2.8L IS
Close-up using 5D MkIII + 70-200/2.8L IS
001_131115-5D_27418-blog-CometISONcu_720x.jpg (88.77 KiB) Viewed 3934 times
Last edited by FFLpilot on Sun Nov 17, 2013 11:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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rider
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Re: FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by rider »

Cool pictures.

I found this instructional 3 minute video about Ison, since I was curious about the comet's travel around the sun ... it's worth a look (especially for someone like me that doesn't know anything about comets :P ).

http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/tim ... oaALxCE5Bo
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Re: FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by Bean »

Very nice. I looked for it this morning but didn't have any luck thanks to all the light pollution. Here's hoping it doesn't get exploded as it passes by the sun.
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Re: FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by vonmackle »

Very nice! I was just wondering what was going on with ISON. Thanks for posting.
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Re: FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by FFLpilot »

Got a few more this morning (finally found Comet Lovejoy, as well), it will definitely be the last day for any sort of decent imaging using amateur astrophotography techniques (due to it getting so low in the sky). Now we have a several week wait to see what comes out the other side!

-Jeff
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Comet ISON emerging from cloud, 11/16/13.
Comet ISON emerging from cloud, 11/16/13.
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Re: FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by Dancesatmoonrise »

Jeff, nice shots!

When do you estimate the comet to be in the evening sky?
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Re: FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by Jim Davies »

The big show might start around December 15th, when it might be visible in both the morning and evening skies. Or it might just disappear like a snowflake in a campfire. :(
http://www.nightskyinfo.com/ison/?ModPa ... t#december" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mid-December evening, looking west 30 minutes after sunset:
Image
Late December evening, looking north one hour after sunset:
Image
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Re: FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by Jim Davies »

PBS had a show about the comet last night. Kind of glitzy, but an interesting overview of the history of comets and the ISON discovery and followup.
http://video.pbs.org/video/2365124349/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by FFLpilot »

Bummer! It appears Comet ISON may have disintegrated prior to reaching perihelion, which should have occurred about now. We may never see ISON again…

You can clearly see its demise here:

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/brows ... r2_512.mpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by Jim Davies »

But wait! Something did come out the other side. This neat animation shows the view from the SOHO spacecraft.
Image
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-bl ... comet.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by giarcd »

A fella can learn alot from this web site! I have---neat info and pics---thanks!!
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Re: FINALLY! Comet ISON over Colorado!

Post by Jim Davies »

Here's another view. :)
Image
http://xkcd.com/1297/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall — it's great when you stop. -- Chris Darwin
I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now. -- Forrest Gump
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