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wakaleo
January 28th, 2007, 09:44 AM
On hols in NZ and on the night of the 25th January we were lucky to strike a clear night when we caught our first sight of McNaught. Here are some pics taken with a Nikon D70. Pic 1 taken using an AF Nikkor 70-210mm lens at 78mm, f/4.2, 10 seconds exposure, ISO 200; Pic 2: same lens at 70mm, f/4, 15 secs, ISO 200 - not able to load - 0.5 Kb to big and the internet cafe computer won't let me do anything about it. Back later!; Pic 3: AF-S Nikkor 18-70mm lens at 18mm, f/3.5, 15 secs, ISO 1000. All pics had levels adjusted in Gimp 2 and were resized using Irfanview.

These are the first respectable photos I've so far taken of anything in the night sky (but not the last, with luck). Telescope (Orion 80 ED EQ) is in storage in Oz and I won't have it set up again until late March. Hope then to get some more pics for posting.

Cheers to all. Some awesome pics of McNaught have been posted. Great work to all.
wakaleo
January 28th, 2007, 10:10 AM
Here's the other pic I couldn't load in the last post. What I'd also forgot to mention is that the pics were tripod-mounted (surprise, surprise!) and taken from a camping ground in the town of Carterton in the North Island. Interestingly, the town is named after the same bloke who gives his name to the Carter Observatory in Wellington. Mere coincidence (a space oddity!) or not?
Mick
January 28th, 2007, 01:04 PM
Nice photos wakaleo, haven't seen much of the comet from the tropics so it's good to see all these nice photos. :thumbsupmate:
Radar
January 28th, 2007, 09:02 PM
Great shots mate. It is such a buzz catching something like this on camera. What is the wind factor like in the North Island?
wakaleo
February 7th, 2007, 12:35 PM
Great shots mate. It is such a buzz catching something like this on camera. What is the wind factor like in the North Island?

Gidday Radar

Wind has at times been rather strong here in NZ and seemingly directly off the antarctic ice shelf, but the last few days have been simply glorious, but, sob, still no telescope! Still, it's just great to sit out with a wine and watch the darkening sky (too cold when dark for a far-north Queenslander like me!)

Wakaleo
wakaleo
February 7th, 2007, 12:38 PM
Nice photos wakaleo, haven't seen much of the comet from the tropics so it's good to see all these nice photos. :thumbsupmate:

Gidday Mick

Thanks for the compliments. Must admit to being pretty stoked myself at the results. However, nothing like seeing it with your own eyes to make you feel pretty humble.

Wakaleo