Photo Diary of Observing Comet Panstarrs 2012 - Spring 2013

7/30/2019 Photo Diary of Observing Comet Panstarrs 2012 - Spring 2013

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COMET PANSTARRS L4 2011 : A PDF photo diary by Greg Knekleian


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On a Hill In Allen Park, Michigan - Our first attempt (March 8, 2013)Comet Panstarrs was only 8 degrees above the setting sun. Haze and low clouds would obscure the comet.FAAC Astronomers and visitors were ready and willing to see the comet (below.)

MARCH 8, 2013 - Our First Attempt to view Comet Panstarrs


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March 8, 2013 Allen Park Michigan

(top left) I took a test image quickly taken, to get my F4 homebuilt reflector in focus. safeThousand Oaks solar filter (not shown)

(center left) Afocal shot (taken through the eyepiece) of a safe solar telescope setup withAstrozap Solar film over the telescope openings. (Caution never observe the sun without a

proper solar telescope. Ask an astronomer if your solar setup is safe, or verify with companieslike OPT telescopes in California, that your observing setup is safe for solar viewing.

We didnt find the comet, but we met some new friends and showed some the sun, the moonJupiter and M42.

Later that night Erin, facing us i(n the photo immediately left) stopped joined Rick, James and I

at Tim Hortons before James and I gave Erin his first tour of HJRO.


4/24

Fun with a 3D imagesDocumenting the event can be fun with a 3d camera. I brought out my Fujix W3 3D camera and took a shot of the some of thehopeful observers before the sun set.

To view this 3d Anaglyph image, youll need those paper movie glasses that have cyan red filters for the old time 3d experience.


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3d photo - Viewing the 3d photo with the cross eye method.Zoom in on the above photo show it displays at full screen.(This technique works better in a dark room.)

Stare at the center and cross your eyes slightly to merge the two white dots. Threephotos will appear below the dots, the middle one will be in 3d.


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Wednesday March 13, 2013 - Our first glimpse of the comet.Comet Panstarrs was at magnitude 1.1 according to estimates from Sky Safari or The Sky software.

FINALLY Viewed March 13, 2013


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March 14, 2013 - FAAC President - Gordon Hansen, two guests standing behindBrians C-8, Brian Kutscher, Mike Stamey looking away facing Rick Arzadon,Greg Ozimek (behind Rick), Art Parent


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Thursday night was math night at the Lincoln Park Middle School: Tim Campbelland Sandra Macika gave presentations. Jim Barnes and Tim Dey were there aswell.At the Lincoln Park site, they saw Comet Panstarrs using 10 by 50 binoculars.

Later I dropped by and found Tim Campbell and Tim Dey working on the newcomputer setup at Hector J Robinson Observatory (HJRO).

Hey you guys, mybrother is outsideflying by the sun,and youre playingwith computers.

MEANWHILE AT HJRO . . .

All Canon EOS t1i wide field photos on this and previous pages were taken with an F5.6 field


11/24

The FOUR SECOND blur - A Bad exposure, from a fixed mount. 4 seconds through the Nexstar4SE on a fixed tripod.

At 42x we cant take a long exposure of the comet from a fixed tripod,. The motion from the earthsrotation will be picked up and the comets image will be blurred. You need short exposures or atracking mount. (In retrospect I should have taken 1 second exposures at 3200 ISO.)


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Sunday March 17, 2013 Comet Panstarrs over Spring Mill Pond, Island Lake State Recreation Area

All images on this and subsequent pages were taken with an F7.1 field stop.


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Ken Anderson spotted the comet first with his 15 by 63mm binoculars. He saw it naked eye immediately after locating thecomet, then moved to get to his bigger binoculars and lost it.We watched the comet and could see the tail through the thin clouds in the distance. The tail being quite bright.Sky Safari estimated the comet would be at Magnitude 1.7 but Ken thought it was brighter than that.(Cropped image above is from a four second exposure.)

(This shows a more true color image of the site, but brightened with the exposure. The next page has an altered look.)

Comet 2011 L4 Panstarrs

Over Mill Creek Pond

Island Lake State Recreation Area,

Brighton Michigan

3-17-2013

(c) Greg Knekleian


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COMET PANSTARRS and

SKY GLOW

A different look - I tried toprocess the photo differentlyusing Nebulosity (Macintosh),

Photoshop and Neat ImagePro.

Lower left is a cropped view

that shows the comets

position.

(My goal was to show the

glowing of the horizon andemphasize the dark fall-off oflight that occurs at the Island

Lake site.)


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COMET PANSTARRS in the clouds. Island Lake, Sprig Mill Pond, Carlton Michigan.March 17, 2013 -(My quick processing notes for this are: reduced color blend with noise filtering using Neat Image Pro.)


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Self Portrait with Panstarrs:Camera was set to take a 10 second exposure at ISO 1600.(As you can see I moved a bit.)

As the comet descended into the trees I could see trees in front, further back and thenthe comet behind them. . . the wonders of binocular viewing.


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COMET PANSTARRS:Ken Anderson and Greg Knekleian look in the direction of the comet Sunday night, March 17, 2013

As the comet set we took some photos of ourselves watching the comet. Other tempting targets were immediately above us.(10 second exposure, ISO 1600 F7.1 F-stop, Canon EOS T1i.)


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March 22, 2013 - Comet Panstarrs grows dimmer with more haze in Allen Park

1600 iso F7.1 field stop Canon EOS T1i, 3.2 second exposure


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Panstarrs and Jetover Southfield freeway,Allen Park, Mi

1600 ISO four second exposure.Light adjustments in preview for

Macintosh and cropped

March 22, 2013 - Panstarrs unfiltered (top left) or with NeatImage Pro noise reduction (right)

Neat Image can give a smoother look reducing the grain while leaving

in most of the details.


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March 22, 2013 -Panstarrs magnitude

estimate 2.8.Comet looked faint with sky

glow and haze


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March 23: Comet Panstarrs? Over Belleville Lake

A cold wind blew over the LakeHeadlights, park lights, and sky glow hampered viewingefforts.

I was not able to see the comet through the sky glow. A ladyand her daughter stopped to talk and see if I found the comet.They had a friendly dog who wanted to jump on me or nudgemy leg while I was trying to find the comet.

When I complained about the dog they decided to leave. Iwas trying to get an image on a laptop as well, but had myCanon EOS lens set to wide at 25mm. For a while I thought Isaw it as a smudge in the photo below. But it turned out it wasan airplane.


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Its fainter now. . . entering into the realm of really big telescopes at dark sky sites or photographic rigs. Now wecan anticipate COMET ISON in the fall of 2013


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Greg Knekleians Comet 2011 L4 Panstarrs: Observing Summary

Date" " " " Quick SummaryMarch 8, 2013" " Big setup for comet Panstarrs (8 degrees above sun), could not see the comet from Allen Park." " " " (10 inch Newtonian, Vixen BT-80 and two four inch rich field reflectors were setup.)" " " " Seven FAAC members showed up and a dozen visitors." " " " Haze low clouds up to 5 degrees above true horizon prevented observation of the comet.

March 13, 2013" " Was able to see the comet from Allen Park location." " " " Comet was relatively bright at 1 magnitude." " " " 20 -25 people visited. Rick Arzadon and James French showed up." " " "

March 14, 2013" " (Math pi night at LP Middle school.) I observed in Allen Park Michigan." " " " Gorden Hansen found the comet first with 10 by 50 binoculars. 20 people including visitors." " " " Saw comet, Imaged with Nexstar 4SE at 42x with fixed mount" " " " Brian Kutscher showed up and took images using C8. Greg Ozimek showed up with his camera." " " " Comet looked nice in 10 inch Dobsonian Rick Arzadon setup." " " " In Lincoln Park, four FAAC members saw the comet with 10 by 50 binoculars." " " "

March 17, 2013" " Saw the comet at dark sky site with Ken Anderson, Island Lake" " " " Ken had three binoculars, I deployed the BT-80 binoculars." " " " Ken wrote a good observing diary. (Magnitude 1.7 comet.)" " " " Comets tail was short, but bright. Ken saw comet naked eye." " " " I estimated the comets tail was as bright as the M42 nebula cloud viewing both through the BT-80." " " " Ken Anderson located the comet first tonight using his 15 by 63 binoculars.

March 22, 2013" " Saw it in Allen Park with Ken Anderson. Used laptop imaging with Canon EOS to locate the comet." " " " Panstarrs was dim at magnitude 2.8 with sky glow and haze." " " " FAAC Astronomers showed up at HJRO as well, some saw the comet through the C14 and Meade." " " " Sandra said the mag 2.8 comet looked about the same in the C14 as it did in binoculars on March 14.

March 23, 2013" " Realized sky would be clear late in the afternoon." " " " Could not drive out to meet Ken Anderson in time. (Ken saw the comet in South Lyon.)" " " " Stopped at Belleville Lake, which was not a good site for viewing the comet." " " " Could not locate comet, even with laptop imaging or binoculars." " " " Clouds moved in as comet set cutting other observing short." " " " Belleville Park had to much direct light pollution from passing cars and street lights.

March 27, 2013" " First morning photos of Comet Panstarrs are taken from HJRO, magnitude 3.8 comet.

OVERALL SUMMARY:" Darker sites with low horizons have a big advantage to urban sites filled with light pollution." " " "


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March 27, 2013 6:20AM - CometPanstarrs from HJRO.

The comet now rises before the sun. Itsgetting easier to photograph from HJRO.Zooming in left, dynamic enhance (right)

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Photo Diary of Observing Comet Panstarrs 2012 - Spring 2013