Images of Comets and Meteors

 

Capturing good images of  Comets and Meteors can range from very easy to very difficult.   For the easy ones (the bright comets) you can often just point a camera towards the sky and open the lens for 30-40 seconds.  You will need a camera that allows you to make time exposures with a bulb setting and a tripod.  Unfortunately, many of the newer cameras and digital cameras do not offer this feature.  For the more difficult (dim comets), the larger the telescope the better.  Meteors are also easy to image.  Again you will need a camera that can take time exposures and a tripod.  Just point the camera at the radiant point of the meteor shower and open the lens for 5-10 each exposure.  The best equipment you can have to image meteors is a wide angle lens and a viewing site with dark skies.  Camcorders can also make nice images of the brighter meteors if you have a dark viewing location.   Visit Gary Kronk's page and Sky & Telescopes for lots of good information for viewing and Photographing Meteor showers and Comets.

 
 
 
 
Comet Hale Bopp
Comet Lee
Comet Temple 2
Perseids Meteor
Comet Linear C/1999 S4
Comet McNaught-Hartley C/1991T1
Comet Linear C/2001 A2
Comet Ikeya-Zhang C/2002 C1 

C2001Q4 Thumbnail

Comet NEAT C/2001 Q4

Comet Pojmaniski C/2006 A1

Comet Pan-STARRS C/2011 L4

 

Comet NEOWISE C/2020 F3

 
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