A Tale of Two Comets
Taken by Alan Dyer on December 15, 2018 @
near Gleichen, Alberta
Click photo for larger image
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Camera Used: Canon Canon EOS 6D Mark II
Exposure Time: 90/1
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 800
Date Taken: 2018:12:16 11:38:41
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Details:
A portrait of two comets each passing the Pleiades and in a similar location relative to the star cluster, but taken nearly 14 years apart. And I shot both with the same lens, a 200mm telephoto, from my backyard in rural Alberta.
On the left is Comet Machholz (C/2004 Q2) discovered in 2004 by amateur astronomer Don Machholz, and at centre Comet 46P/Wirtanen, discovered in 1948 by professional astronomer Carl Wirtanen. Both comets became bright enough to be visible to the unaided eye.
I shot Comet Machholz with a Canon Rebel 300D cropped-frame camera, and Comet Wirtanen with a Canon 6D MkII full-frame camera, so the image scale is different between the two images.
So … on the far right is a version with the two images layered and auto-aligned with Photoshop, so the stars and field scale and orientation of the Machholz image match and register with the Wirtanen image. This version shows the location of two comets with respect to the Pleiades best.
Photographer's website:
http://www.amazingsky.net
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