Home/BlogUPDATE (11/16/2013): I’ve replaced the video with one that pans and zooms…much better. (The video will keep looping after it loads):
This is my latest (and best) attempt at a time lapse video of Comet ISON, rising over a heavily forested area of northeast Alabama.
The video starts without tracking, so the stars are streaked. Then I turned on star tracking when the comet was approximately centered in the frame, and the frame of reference “launches” to keep up with the comet.
I was finally able to see the comet for the first time in my Canon 10×30 binoculars….I could barely make out the faint tail. But you need dark skies and know just where to look. To find it, I’m now using the iPhone app “Star Walk“, which is absolutely amazing.
This time I used my new Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens, stopped down to f/2.5, 30 sec exposures. This very fast lens is awesome…it seems to show more detail than my 200mm lens extended to 400mm with a 2x extender. The video is cropped to 120% of full pixel resolution, so the effective magnification is about 6x or 7x.
There is an interesting satellite which passes to the left of the comet, from top to bottom. It crosses the sky much slower than most satellites, suggesting a very high orbital altitude. Based upon the direction and the angular speed (the 30 sec satellite streaks are same length as the star streaks at the beginning of the video), it appears to be geostationary (wow! Imaging a geostationary satellite with a 85 mm lens!).
PLUS…if you look closely, in one frame a meteor streaks by the geostationary satellite!
UPDATE: It appears the geostationary satellite passing by ISON was either Intelsat 905 or 907, which passed by (as seen from from my location) close to 4:30 a.m. These satellites are near the Equator off the coast of Africa, around 25W longitude, at an altitude of ~22,000 miles.
UPDATE #2: The bright satellite that whizzed by ISON just before the geostationary satellite appears to be an Atlas 5 Centaur booster rocket from a March 10, 2007 DoD NEXTSat launch.
Very nice. I’ve never seen a geostationary sat imaged before.
What sort of mount are you using to keep the camera synced with the Earth’s motion?
an AstroTrac on a Ravelli tripod, with a Manfrotto geared head between for easier polar alignment.
Isn’t it great to get back to comet watching after having debated a “snarky warmist” ?
Dr. Spencer, I think you’ve got the wrong video on your home page… I looked at both; that one dated nov 11 (6 seconds long) and the one here on the comments page also dated nov 11 (14 seconds long). I think they’re different… (unless it’s just my goofy iPhone acting up again)
Must be my goofy iPhone…
Congratulations, Dr. Spencer. Great video!
It has stars, meteors, a comet and man-made objects. Wow!
Clear Skies to you!
That Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens is superb!
Excellent, it’s still below the horizon at night where I live.
Great time lapse!
http–onlinelibrary.wiley.com-doi-10.1002-qj.2297-abstract
Once again I wd like to draw your attention to the current literature, and encourage a comment from you instead of your usual sarcasm and denial. If you are the hard working scientist you claim to be, why are you ignoring so much of the real science around this issue?
just so you keep up on the current literature
Geophys. Res. Lett. 40, 5252 (2013
I may be mistaken, but aren’t gepstationary satellites supposed to be motionless relative to the earth surface, which the camera ia fixed to?
I couldn\t have been a geostationary satellite, more likely some of the gps/glonass satellites, which circle the earth once every 12 hours.
oh wait… motionless relative to the earth, not the stars… sorry for being a smartass
The camera is tracking the stars, so the geostationary satellite moves at the same angular speed as the stars do, but in the opposite direction relative to the stars.
Not sure which one you are using, but in case it is easier to use and for those who don’t have one handy on the thread: http://spaceweather.com/flybys/flybys.php
Forgot this one which I used for a while tracking ISS flybys: http://www.heavens-above.com/
Great stuff Doc! I sure hope ISON continues to brighten. It may not be a Hale-Bopp or Hyakutake but any comet with an impressive tail that can be observed with the naked eye makes people who normally would not look up do so and perhaps contemplate some things they don’t during their everyday lives.
AMEN…
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