PANSTARRS Parting Shots

Comet PANSTARRS is getting harder to see from my location. Tonight's images are probably the last that I will take. I missed the opportunity last night to get a shot of the comet with the Moon, so I tried to make up for that tonight:

Comet PANSTARRS; Canon Rebel T3 (1100D); 80mm focal length at f/5.6; 2.5 seconds at ISO-1600
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Comet PANSTARRS; Canon Rebel T3 (1100D); 300mm focal length at f/5.6; 2.5 seconds at ISO-800
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Close-up of the crescent Moon, with the dark side lit up by Earthshine.

Comet PANSTARRS; Canon Rebel T3 (1100D); 300mm focal length at f/5.6; 2 seconds at ISO-400

PANSTARRS and Moonset

My wife and I went up to the roof the Sam Houston State University parking garage to see the comet and take some pictures. A small crowd gathered around the telescope. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Below are some of the pics from tonight.

The star below and to the right of the comet is the planet Uranus:

Comet PANSTARRS; Canon Rebel T3 (1100D); ST80 on Vixen SP; 4 seconds at ISO-400
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Comet PANSTARRS; Canon Rebel T3 (1100D); ST80 on Vixen SP; 5 seconds at ISO-1600
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Setting Moon over Huntsville, TX; Canon Rebel T3 (1100D); ST80 on Vixen SP; 2.5 seconds at ISO-1600
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Here is a movie of the crescent Moon setting over Huntsville:

Moonset over Huntsville, March 13, 2013

PANSTARRS Movies!

Here are a couple of movies I put together from tonight's images.

The first is composed of 1-second exposures at ISO-400. The tripod wasn't very steady, so there is some bouncing around because of the wind.

PANSTARRS Movie #1

The second move is composed of a few 4-second exposures at ISO-1600:

PANSTARRS Movie #2

Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)

Comet PANSTARRS is visible in the northern hemisphere! Naked-eye comets don't come along every day.  The last one I saw was Comet Holmes in 2007. Prior to that, the only other naked-eye comet I had seen was Hale-Bopp. I've seen a couple through telescopes, but that doesn't count. :o)

Here are a couple of images of PANSTARRS that I took from my yard this evening:

Comet PANSTARRS; Canon Rebel T3 (1100D); 300mm focal length at f/5.6; 1 second at ISO-400
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Comet PANSTARRS; Canon Rebel T3 (1100D); 300mm focal length at f/5.6; 4 seconds at ISO-1600
Click here for the full-size image