Comet C/2011 L4 Panstarrs - Heads Up

[JB80]

Reports from Oz are that people are seeing it with the naked eye although faint at first it gets better although it does sound borderline at times but if you have binos then it doesn't seem to be an issue.

[Scubapauly]

Cool, what about a 200mm lens and DSLR lol???

[SHUTTLE ATLANTIS]

scubapauly

i would say anything from 50mm -135mm will get good shots and 200mm wow that would show nice comet

[yesteryeargames]

is it worth while lugging my scope along then , i only have a 25 mm eyepiece , would that be too much ?

i guess theres no harm im taking it along with a good pair of binos too

[yesteryeargames]

what do you need to search for under sky safari to mark this object ?

i put in Comet C/2011 L4 Panstarrs but no luck.

[yesteryeargames]

nevermind found it

looks like a good time to set up 6 pm from the 12th , just hope for 1 decent evening please weatherman

[swedonator]

I managed to see it! The same elevation as the sun, so it was a bit tricky. I did not had enough time to photograph it, the settings messed up. Two tails. Clearly visible. I can't wait til sundar or monday when the elevation is higher, then I will be prepared!

[swedonator]

BTW, the first comet I have ever seen! *happy guy*

[SHUTTLE ATLANTIS]

wicked you lucky person you well done

can wait to see it myself

[swedonator]

I am no good at cameras yet. But you should have a high ISO and low f, and a exposure time for about 30 seconds, right?

[Photosbykev]

I am no good at cameras yet. But you should have a high ISO and low f, and a exposure time for about 30 seconds, right?

probably not too high on the iso, maybe iso800 f4 30 seconds as a starting point and adjust from there. You will probably find that the remaining light from the sunset will cause the sky to overexpose or even blow out completely, so try dropping the shutter speed first if it does

[keeplookingup]

am hoping for clear sky tomorrow. we're expecting high winds all day tomorrow so that should clear out the sky for us. In beijing the sky is always overcast.

either rain or winds clear it up for us.

I will go about 40km north into the mountains for this.

congrats on your first comet. Also a thrill when seeing something like this for the first time.

[Scubapauly]

I looked last night but the sunset was very bright as no clouds down here in the desert. It might make it even trickier to see as the residual light stays for ages.

Hopefully it will still be easy to see well into next week as I have to go to Muscat this weekend and light pollution will make it impossible.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I managed to see it! The same elevation as the sun, so it was a bit tricky. I did not had enough time to photograph it, the settings messed up. Two tails. Clearly visible. I can't wait til sundar or monday when the elevation is higher, then I will be prepared!

Well done! Coming Tuesday is supposed to be clear here, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Cool, what about a 200mm lens and DSLR lol???

Should be fine, I used my old Yashica 200mm on Hyakutake and Hale Bopp. A shot of Hyakutake with 200mm is shown below

[keeplookingup]

that's a great shot. Its these types of moments that make me with i did have a camera to piggy back onto my 150mm. but not yet. I have to study that for awhile before making a purchase on it.

[voivod]

Should be fine, I used my old Yashica 200mm on Hyakutake and Hale Bopp. A shot of Hyakutake with 200mm is shown below

Nice pic. My first confirmed sighting of a comet was Hyakutake.

I may have seen Halley back in '85/'86 but I cant be certain. Like to think that I did though

[cstew]

I'm really really hoping we get a clear spell so I can at least see, and hopefully image this comet. I remember seeing hale-bopp whilst crossing the North sea on a ferry, they turned off all the lights on the ship, it was spectacular!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Predictions for my neck of the woods are good for Tuesday and Friday next week. In with a chance!

[fredster]

Fingers crossed the clear spells pan out for Tuesday. We are also forecast part clear for Wednesday.

[swedonator]

Well.. according to people from Sweden, I have not seen Panstarrs They tell me it's more like to be some leftover-smoke from an airplane. I am sorry for this 'false' observation.

[keeplookingup]

all this hype and exciting news about comets. Leaves me to wonder if it is worth moving to the southern half of the world.

[SHUTTLE ATLANTIS]

been spotted in florida

Longtime amateur astronomer Jim Brant writes from Homestead, Florida, latitude 25° N: “I spotted the comet naked eye at 7 p.m. tonight (March 7). It is much fainter than recent photos from the Southern Hemisphere, which is expected as they are time exposures. It looks like a faint straight jet contrail, about a degree long and fainter than I expected. It’s a pretty sight in my f/6.25 80mm University Optics refractor at 11x. Thought you might like to know it’s finally visible here.”

[keeplookingup]

@ shuttle -

thanks for the report on a northern finding. that gives me hope for tomorrow.

[SHUTTLE ATLANTIS]

this is good will help us