Home› The Lodge
Scott Butner
Senior MemberPosts: 3,918 Senior Member
Comet ISON sighting

first half-decent picture of the comet so far -- taken in 12 degree weather in my favorite wheat field. 6 second exposure -- couldn't go longer due to the bright moon (fortunately the moon was on the other half of the sky) and imminent dawn.

1402091_10151833400899195_1390572074_o by Scott Butner, on Flickr

1402091_10151833400899195_1390572074_o by Scott Butner, on Flickr
Replies
[seriously, it's pretty clearly a windmill standing next to that cylindrical robot]
Mike
just in that direction (one of the reasons I pick that spot). Just to the south (right edge) of the photo in the distance are the Blue Mountains, averaging about 7-8000 feet in elevation, I think -- not huge but fairly rugged. To the west (behind the camera) are the channeled scablands where ice age floods carved deep gullies and coulees. to the south is Rattlesnake mountain and the Horseheaven hills.
it's not rugged or mountainous by Rocky Mountain standards, but it's not uniformly flat
Just teasing. If you want flat go to Saskatchewan. If your dog runs away, you can watch it for three days..
Mike
Great Uncle Charlie who lived near Winnipeg said things like that.
I find the willingness to give it up frightening.
Yeah, really hoping that it does survive it. the tail is already much longer than the tail from Comet PANSTARRS earlier this year, so it has potential to still deliver a visual spectacle. The moon will plague viewing until after the 28th so photo ops are limited until then -- though I am seriously considering going to Palouse Falls state park to shoot it rising over the waterfall tomorrow morning.
yeah, shoddy workmanship, unreliable delivery.....eff them.
The comet is simply too low on the horizon at sunrise to be able to view or image well, unless perhaps it's with a telescope.
I did get some interesting photos though from the trip I took to Palouse Falls, about 90 mi from our house.
The first is the comet itself -- the same image that I posted earlier, but with a much more aggressive post-processing. While I think it is not as aesthetically pleasing, it DOES depict the comet more clearly, showing the tail in particular. Since that was the last photo I'll get of the comet before it reappears after thanksgiving (it has faded from view for now), i thought i'd put up the alternate view:
DSC_6204-Edit-2 by Scott Butner, on Flickr
the view from near Palouse Falls, two days later. The comet MIGHT be visible here, but the tail is not. Already it is simply too close to the sun to be visible to a camera:
DSC_7459-Edit by Scott Butner, on Flickr
the bright moonlight didn't help with viewing the comet -- but it did make Palouse Falls show up nicely during the pre-dawn shots:
DSC_7448 by Scott Butner, on Flickr
foggy dawn light over the Snake River:
DSC_7519-Edit by Scott Butner, on Flickr
sometimes, I just have no sense of subtlety....
DSC_7511-Edit by Scott Butner, on Flickr
sometimes I do.
DSC_7599 by Scott Butner, on Flickr
in case you doubted how cold it was (11 deg F at sunrise)
DSC_7571 by Scott Butner, on Flickr
That's not a robot. It is the new 2014 stylish and streamlined Black Monolith, it's first restyling since 2001 save for a few minor refreshes over the years. Duh!
Scott - Nice pics, as always.
if you hear it talking to you, it's time for the Kool-aid.