Perseus, Cass & Ribblehead Viaduct

[PeteC]

From last night, Ribblehead Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales lit by the moon, Perseus & Cass above. Panstarrs is still there moving through Cass, now down to about mag 7. Nice to see that M31 isn't getting dimmer as well! Just above the ridge, right of centre. Single frame, 450d + 18-55 @18mm, 60 sec, f3.5 iso1600, Polarie tracker on half sidereal rate so the foreground didn't blur too much.

[iksose7]

Looks good Pete, having trouble finding Panstarrs though

[PeteC]

Thanks. I wasn't trying to catch Panstarrs in this image, I've got a few shots of it already, but I noticed it's there just below the middle of the line between Shedir and Caph, the two right hand stars of the W in Cass. It's about as bright as the dimmest stars in the image and showing a very small tail. You can only make it out if you zoom in. Wouldn't have found it without checking it's position on Stellarium.

I see you've got a 1100d. I'm keeping an eye on ebay just now to get one to mod and keep the 450d for normal photography. The EF200L is next on my wish list!

[iksose7]

Thanks. I wasn't trying to catch Panstarrs in this image, I've got a few shots of it already, but I noticed it's there just below the middle of the line between Shedir and Caph, the two right hand stars of the W in Cass. It's about as bright as the dimmest stars in the image and showing a very small tail. You can only make it out if you zoom in. Wouldn't have found it without checking it's position on Stellarium.

I see you've got a 1100d. I'm keeping an eye on ebay just now to get one to mod and keep the 450d for normal photography. The EF200L is next on my wish list!

Ahh, i see. Question, how do you get Stellarium to spit out the comets location? I've tried searching Panstarrs and it wont find it. It would help for when i finally try to image it!

Yeah, i will be getting another cam and getting that modded as soon as i can afford it! Have you looked here >> www.mpbphotographic.co.uk

Great website, they have second hand 1100Ds going for £199. Body only but doesnt matter if you already have a lens. Yeah, just finally got my EF200L just over a week ago. Cant wait for a moonless night to try it out properly

[PeteC]

There is a comet plug-in for Stellarium which I found really helpful for finding Panstarrs when it was against a bright sky low on the horizon. Just took the azimuth bearing off Stellarium, went out with a compass set to that bearing, scanned up with 10x50s and bang there it was every time. I found out about the plug-in from a post on here somewhere but can't find it now. What you need to do is open the configuration window, select the plug-in tab, then solar system editor which gives a list of comets and asteroids you can add, then cofigure. I'm no expert at this but it worked for me first time. I've downloaded ISON data as well as Panstarrs, this should be really helpful for planning images of ISON later in the year.

Thanks for the link to mpb, I'll give them a try. Don't forget to post your efforts with the EF200L. From what everyone on here says it is the lens to have.

Pete

[sologuitarist61]

Lovely image - just enough detail in the viaduct without it overwhelming the night sky - very good!

[iksose7]

Cheers Pete, i managed to find that thread and now have Panstarrs and ISON added. Will definately come in handy for the future!

Don't forget to post your efforts with the EF200L. From what everyone on here says it is the lens to have.

I'll be sure to do that as soon as i have a half decent image