Comets. Rocky, dirty, icy orbs which race to see how many times they can touch the sun
and return again before they melt into oblivion.
Man has got his hand a little deeper into space. On July 4th, 2005, the Deep Impact
Flyby Spacecraft shot photos as the 820 lb copper impactor slammed into comet Tempel 1
at 23,000 miles per hour! The impact expelled over 10,000 tons of material from the comets'
surface.
Tempel 1 is a 3 by 7 mile short period comet, returning every 5.68 years. It's
amazing. We can calculate the orbit of an object in space well enough to send a spacecraft
to intercept it. But still in the eyes of The God who created the heavens, our accomplishments
are nothing. Insignificant. We can see so far, but not touch.
A full-blown comet finally, but...it's in the glare of the sun! I have finally located it
and it is pretty. It is short-lived, being close to the sun, it sets shortly after sunset
and rises just before sunrise. I just found it in the twilite before it sank below the
horizon! The name of the comet is McNaught. It is looking to be the brightest comet in
30 years! Too bad the comet is so close to the sun, we dont see the best part-when it
lights up the night sky, and puts all other celestial bodies to shame!
All pics: Nikon coolpix 8700, full zoom, ISO 50, 1 sec shots
cometmcnaught11007
cometmcnaught11007b
cometmcnaught11007c
The year 2004 has brought a few comets around the sun for one evening showing and one
morning showing. Here is the long awaited appearing of the comet Bradfield, making its'
debut in the Memphis Michigan morning skies. Pics were with a Pentax k1000, 50mm f/2,
14 secs. Fuji 400 film.
bradfield42804
It took me forever to find this comet. The skies around here are usually cloud covered,
and there is a growing problem with expanding civilization. The night sky aglow with
artificial lighting is making dark sites harder to find. Around the first of April I
finally found comet Ikeya-Zhang (and I don't know how to pronounce it!). A few evening
shots, and now into the morning skies. Pics were with a Pentax k1000, 50mm f/2 and a
sigma 210mm f/5.6 lens (14 and 10 secs, respectively). Also, a Nikon EL2 50mm f/1.8 lens.
All on Fuji 800 film.
ikeya4802nik2
ikeya4802nik4
ikeyazhang4602b
My first Comet photos! Matter-of-fact, I purchased my Pentax K-1000 the end of January,
1997, just in time for comet Hale-Bopp. My first 35mm camera, and it has been quite
a journey! I had watched comet Hykatake night after night, spin around the north
pole, and I missed that photographic opportunity. Now I have 2 cameras, and haven't
seen a comet bright enough to shoot! These photos were all taken with a 50mm f/2
lens, on Kodak Royal gold 1000.
