NEW

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) and Mars

February 11, 2023 between 7:58pm and 8:16pm ET

North is to the right.

Location in Sky: Taurus

Location on Earth: Burlington, Ontario

Camera: Canon 40D with Astronomik CLS clip filter

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/4, ISO 1600

Exposures: 16 X 1 minute (16 minutes total).

Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3)

and the International Space Station

July 20, 2020 between 10:08pm and 10:23pm

The streak of the ISS occurred during the 3.2 seconds of my single exposure at 10:08pm on July 20, 2020, when the ISS passed within a full moon width of NEOWISE's head.

Crop of combined full-field image.

Location in Sky: Ursa Major

Location on Earth: Burlington, Ontario

Camera: Canon 40D, on a fixed tripod

Lens: Canon 100mm f/2.0 telephoto

Settings: f/3.5, ISO 1600

Total Exposures: 21 X 3.5 seconds (67.2 seconds total).

Comet Johnson (C/2015 V2)

April 24 and April 26, 2017  just before midnight ET (both nights)

Location on the 24th was between the stars Upsilon Herculis near top and Phi Herculis at lower left.

Location on the 26th is on the right.

Image set of 24th is a stack of 20 images; image set of 26th is a stack of 23 images.

Crop of combined full-field image.

Location in Sky: Hercules

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon 40D with Astronomik CLS clip filter

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Total Exposures: 30 minutes (24th), 34.5 minutes (26th).

Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak

April 25, 2017  ~12:20 am ET

Composite of 15 stacked images.

North is to the left.

Location in Sky: Hercules

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon 40D with Astronomik CLS clip filter

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: 15 X 1.5 minute (22.5 minutes total).

Comet 252P/LINEAR

May 5, 2016  ~11:30 pm ET

Composite of 19 stacked images, plus darks & flats.

North is to the left.

Location in Sky: Ophiuchus

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon 40D with Astronomik CLS clip filter

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: 19 X 1.5 minute (28.5 minutes total).

Comet PanSTARRS (C/2014 S2) and Polaris

October 7, 2015  ~8:20 pm ET

Comet C/2014 S2 PanSTARRS (upper left) is less than 2 degrees away from Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris) at lower right.

Composite of 6 stacked images, plus darks & flats.

Location in Sky: Ursa Minor

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon 40D with Astronomik CLS clip filter

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: 6 X 1 minute (6 minutes total) plus a single 60 second f/4 frame masked and blended in, to show 'spikes' on Polaris.

Comet LOVEJOY (C/2014 Q2) and NGC 188,

May 13, 2015  10:24 pm - 11:29 pm ET

Comet Lovejoy (left) is about 3 degrees away from open star cluster NGC 188 (right).

Composite of 30 stacked images, plus darks & flats.

North is to the right.

Location in Sky: Cepheus

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon 40D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: 30 X 1 minute = 30 minutes total.

Comet LOVEJOY (C/2014 Q2),

March 9, 2015  9:00 pm - 9:55 pm ET

Comet Lovejoy is barely a degree away from NGC 457 (the E.T. Cluster or Owl Cluster).  Another star cluster, M103, is at far right.  Delta Cassiopeiae is the bright star at lower right.

Composite of 33 stacked images, plus darks & flats.

North is towards the lower right.

Location in Sky: Cassiopeia

Location on Earth: Caledonia, Ontario

Camera: Canon 40D with Astronomik CLS clip filter

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: 33 X 1 minute = 33 minutes total.

Comet LOVEJOY (C/2014 Q2),

January 13, 2015  8:07 pm - 8:22 pm ET

(raw images stacked on head of comet)

Composite of 8 stacked images, plus darks & flats.

North is to the left.

Location in Sky: Taurus

Location on Earth: Caledonia, Ontario

Camera: Canon 40D with Astronomik CLS clip filter

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: 8 X 1 minute = 8 minutes total.

Comet LOVEJOY (C/2014 Q2),

January 13, 2015  7:50 pm - 8:00 pm ET

(raw images stacked on background stars)

Composite of 5 stacked images, plus darks & flats.

North is to the left.

Location in Sky: Taurus

Location on Earth: Caledonia, Ontario

Camera: Canon 40D with Astronomik CLS clip filter

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: 5 X 1 minute = 5 minutes total.

Comet JACQUES (C/2014 E2),

September 23, 2014  ~9:20 pm ET

Composite of 6 stacked images, plus darks & flats.

North is to the right.

Location in Sky: Sagitta/Aquila border

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon 40D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: 6 X 1 minute = 6 minutes total.

Comet PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4),

May 7, 2013  10:00 pm - midnight ET

Composite of 20 stacked images, plus darks & flats.

North is to the left.

Location in Sky: Cepheus

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel 300D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 800

Exposures: 20 X 2 minutes = 40 minutes total.

Comet GARRADD (C/2009 P1),

September 25, 2011  9:34 - 10:05 pm ET

North is to the right.

Location in Sky: Hercules

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel 300D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 800

Exposures: 8 X 2.0854 minutes = 16 minutes 41 seconds total

Comet HARTLEY 2 (103P) and the Perseus Double Cluster [FULL WIDE FIELD],

October 7, 2010  9:29 - 9:40 pm ET

North is to the left.

Location in Sky: Perseus

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel 300D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: (3 + 2 + 2) minutes = 7 minutes total

Comet HARTLEY 2 (103P) and the Perseus Double Cluster [ROUGH-CUT CROP],

October 7, 2010  9:24 pm ET

Location in Sky: Perseus

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel 300D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposure: 2 minutes

Comet WILD 2 (81P),

April 14, 2010  12:03 - 12:38 am ET

Composite of 15 stacked images.  Final image cropped.

Location in Sky: Virgo

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel 300D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: (5 X 101 seconds) + (10 X 97 seconds)

                 = 24 minutes 35 seconds total.

Comet CHRISTENSEN (C/2006 W3),

September 16, 2009  10:52 - 11:02 pm ET

Composite of 5 stacked images.  Final image cropped.

Location in Sky: Aquila

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel 300D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: 5 X 61.4 seconds (on average)

                 = 5 minutes 7 seconds total.

[ 316 KB JPEG ]

M38 and Comet CARDINAL (C/2008 T2),

April 14, 2009  10:34 pm ET

When I imaged the open star cluster M38 in the constellation Auriga, I noticed a faint green fuzzy in the image right beside M38.
While I knew Comet Cardinal was in this general area of the sky, I didn't know it was beside M38 on that particular night. This was a stroke of luck.
Comet Cardinal was very dim; about Magitude 11.
In this image, M38 is near the top.  The comet is the tiny green blur just to the left of M38.  Another open cluster, NGC 1907 appears just below M38.

Location in Sky: Auriga

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel 300D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposures: (120 + 120 + 91) seconds

                 = 5 minutes 31 seconds total.

Comet LULIN (C/2007 N3), with Saturn (lower left)

February 23, 2009  10:53 pm ET

Composite of 5 stacked images.  Final image cropped.

Location in Sky: Leo

Location on Earth: Mountsberg, Ontario

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel 300D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: (4 @ f/2.8; 1 @ f/4), ISO 1600

Exposures: (4 X 46.5 seconds @ f/2.8) + (63 secs @ f/4)

Comet BOATTINI (C/2007 W1)

May 4, 2008  10:30 pm ET

Crop from a 300mm f/2.8 digital image.

Location in Sky: Hydra, near Crater

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel 300D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 1600

Exposure: 2 minutes

Comet HOLMES (17P)

November 18, 2007  11pm ET

This image of Comet Holmes (17P) is a crop of a digital image taken from right outside my front door.  The bright star just below the comet is Mirfak (Alpha Persei).

Location in Sky: Perseus

Location on Earth: Burlington, Ontario

Camera: Canon Digital Rebel 300D

Lens: Tamron 300mm f/2.8 telephoto

Settings: f/2.8, ISO 400

Exposure: 74 seconds

Comet HOLMES (17P) MOVIE

October - November, 2007

Click on the picture to see an animation of six (6) still pictures taken October 30, 2007 thru November 30, 2007, inclusive.

[ 610 KB Animated GIF ]

Comet SCHWASSMANN-WACHMANN 3 (73P) April 28, 2006  1:30 am ET

This analog image of the two brightest fragments of Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (73P) was scanned @ 1200 dpi directly from negative of original 135mm f/2.5 photo.

Component C is at upper left.  Component B is as lower right.

Location in Sky: Corona Borealis

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Exposure: 6 minutes

Film: Fuji Superia 1600.

Comet SCHWASSMANN-WACHMANN 3 (73P) April 27, 2006  10:30pm to midnight ET

This montage of the two brightest fragments of Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (73P) were each digitally stacked from film photos originally taken at 400mm focal length @ f/5.6.

Click on the picture to read the additional informational text.

Location in Sky: Corona Borealis

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Comet N.E.A.T. (C/2001 Q4) MOVIE, May 16, 2004

Click on the picture to see an animation of four (4) still pictures of Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT).

[ 587 KB Animated GIF ]

Comet N.E.A.T. (C/2001 Q4) May 11, 2004

This image of Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) was scanned @ 1200 dpi directly from negative of original 200mm f/3.5 photo.

Location in Sky: Southwestern Cancer

Location on Earth: Barry's Bay, Ontario

Exposure: 6 minutes

Film: Fuji NPZ 800.

Comet IKEYA-ZHANG (C/2002 C1) May 4, 2002

This virtual-400mm telephoto image is an enlargement from a 200mm photo of Comet Ikeya-Zhang in the constellation Draco, taken at about 10:30pm on the evening of Saturday, May 4, 2002 from Spectacle Lake Lodge near Barry's Bay, Ontario. Note the blue gas tail running diagonally upward and rightward. The bright orange star is Gamma Draconis. Fuji NPZ 800 ASA professional film was used for the original 6-minute exposure through a 200mm f/3.5 lens.

Comet LINEAR (C/2000 WM1)

November 21-22, 2001
 

This is a digital composite of 8 individual shots I took of Comet C/2000 WM1 (Linear) over an approximate-45-minute period from about 11:30 pm EST November 21 to about 12:15 am November 22, 2001 from north of Burlington, Ontario. This comet was in the constellation Aries at the time. The 8 original shots were taken through my 200 mm lens on Kodak MAX Zoom 800 film, then digitally scanned at 300 dpi, then combined, aligning on the comet's nucleus. The result shows the comet's motion during the total period of about 45 minutes.

Comet HALE-BOPP (C/1995 O1) April 1, 1997

This is Comet Hale-Bopp from North Burlington, through a 50mm lens set at f/2.8, on a fixed tripod, with Fuji Super-G Plus 800 film for a 30-second exposure. A porch light illuminated the trees.

Comet HALE-BOPP (C/1995 O1) March 27, 1997

This image of Comet Hale-Bopp I took on March 27, 1997 near Carlisle, Ontario.  This was taken with Fuji Super-G Plus 800 film through a 135 mm telephoto lens, set at f/4, and the exposure was approximately 6 minutes long.

Comet HYAKUTAKE (C/1996 B2) March 23, 1996

This is an image of Comet Hyakutake taken through a 135mm f/2.5 telephoto lens on a fixed tripod, with Fujicolor 400 ASA film on March 23, 1996 near Carlisle, Ontario. The shutter was open for about 20 seconds for this exposure. (Re-enhanced in 2002)