- My astronomy blog

Fantastic image of Comet PanSTARRS (C/2014 Q1) by Anne-Louise Surma-Hawes

(Posted 19 July 2015) I want to share the below image of Comet PanSTARRS (C/2014 Q1) taken by Anne-Louise Surma-Hawes yesterday from near Leyburn, Queensland early yesterday evening.

Image (c) 2015 Anne-Louise Surma-Hawes
Image (c) 2015 Anne-Louise Surma-Hawes

Anne-Louise Surma-Hawes described the process of creating the image as follows.The image is a composite of several images ranging from 5 seconds to 30 seconds to capture the dynamic range of the comet and the Earthlight on the crescent Moon. Captured using a Canon 50D, ISO 3200, through a 72 mm ZenithStar telescope with a focal length of 496 mm.

My family and I were visiting a property near Leyburn Queensland used by amateur astronomers hoping to capture this object in dark and (hopefully) clear skies. We were not disappointed and were treated to a great display despite the glare of the nearby crescent Moon. In binoculars we were able to distinguish the coma very well and a certain amount of tail, but the camera was able to show the tail reaching at least to the Moon. The stars in the image show trailing between the shots due to the motion of the comet.

For permission to reproduce the photograph, please contact Anne-Louise Surma-Hawes at: ‘earthlite @ gmail.com’.

About Josie Floyd

Read All Posts By Josie Floyd

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *