Sunday 12 July 2020

Crazy weekend of astrophotography- Comets and NLCs

Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE has been floating around in the at dusk/dawn for a couple of weeks and I've been seeing lots of nice shots of it. This weekend was warm, dry and with clear skies, so I ventured out.
Saturday morning first, up and out the house at 02:45, with the whole family in tow!!
Just a few minutes up the road, to Curley Hill to hopefully spot the comet in the pre-dawn sky.
What awaited us was one of the most amazing skies I've ever seen. Noctilucent Clouds were spreading out from the North and the comet was just hanging there in a beautifully clear sky.
My family now think NLC's are easy to find, having seem them on their first attempt. This despite the fact I've been hunting them for a couple of years now. It's definitely a great year for them...


Noctilucent Clouds and Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE in the pre-dawn light over Surrey
Canon 77D, 55mm lens, ISO400, f4.0, 4seconds

Noctilucent Clouds and Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE in the pre-dawn light over Surrey
Canon 77D, 55mm lens, ISO400, f4.0, 4seconds

Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE in the pre-dawn light over Surrey
Canon 77D, 200mm lens, ISO400, f4.0, 4seconds



For Sunday morning, I fancied another go at the comet, but with a more interesting foreground, I decided on heading for Alton Barnes, Wiltshire. The middle of cropcircle country and an area I know very well ;o) Leaving the house at 1am !!!, the sky was looking lovely and clear.
Shooting the White Horse from the road provided the ideal elevation and distance away to get a nice zoomed-in shot of the comet hovering over Milk Hill. Really pleased with this shot and it was great to be out in the middle of nowhere at 2am with my son. A very surreal experience for us both!

Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE over Alton Barnes White Horse, Wiltshire
Canon 77D, 300mm lens, ISO400, f4.0, 4seconds


Once that shot was in the bag, we headed for Avebury. I really wanted to get a shot of the stones with the comet overhead, but it's hard to get far enough away from the stones to get the angle right for a longer focal length. This shot is with a 55mm lens in order to fit in the stone. That means the comet is smaller in the image, but it's still a nice shot, with the sunrise clearly on it's way!

 Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE over Avebury Avenue
Canon 77D, 55mm lens, ISO400, f4.0, 4seconds