Comet ISON in the Dawn (Nov 21)
Taken by Alan Dyer on November 21, 2013 @
near Gleichen, Alberta, Canada
Click photo for larger image
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Camera Used: Canon Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure Time: 4/1
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 1600
Date Taken: 2013:11:21 08:44:10
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Details:
Comet ISON performs its dive toward the Sun, caught in the morning twilight.
This was the infamous and much-hyped Comet ISON (C/2012 S1) as it appeared this morning, November 21, 2013, a week before it performs its hairpin turn around the Sun.
The comet was easy to see in binoculars, though the camera picks up a bit more of its faint tail. ISON was much more photogenic a week ago when it was higher in a darker and moonless sky. But this morning I had to contend with bright moonlight from a waning Moon and the brightening dawn. The inset shows a blow up of just the comet.
ISON is dropping rapidly toward the Sun, making this perhaps the last sighting I’ll have of it until it reappears – we hope! – from behind the Sun in early December. If it survives its perihelion passage it might blossom into brilliance … or fade into obscurity. No one knows.
In the photo, you can see Mercury at left, shining much brighter than ISON. It was brilliant as it rose into the southeast sky, with the elusive planet now about as well-placed as it gets as a “morning star” for us living at northern latitudes.
The shot is a 4-second exposure with a tracked 135mm telephoto lens and Canon 5D MkII, and with the colours and contrast boosted for prettiness.
Photographer's website:
http://www.amazingsky.net
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