RASC Hamilton Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) - putative dSLR Image

[Ed Mizzi]

That’s a very generous and intriguing offer, thanks. I’ll give it some thought, but what is your address, please?


On Nov 23, 2013, at 10:50 PM, Andy Blanchard <atacamandy at hotmail.ca> wrote:

> If your looking for something to do on Tuesdays, Joe, Gary and I are building an airplane in my garage on Tuesdays. We start at about 9:30, its fun and interesting. We also talk astronomy too. 
> 
> Have a great day
> 
> Andy Blanchard
> 289-337-6766H
> 905-847-7777B
> 905-330-5626C
> 
> On Nov 23, 2013, at 10:41 PM, "Ed Mizzi" <emizzi at cogeco.ca> wrote:
> 
>> That’s very thoughtful, thanks Andy. I haven’t given up the ghost and will hopefully return over the next few months. I love astronomy too much to give it up.
>> 
>> Ed
>> 
>> 
>> On Nov 23, 2013, at 10:35 PM, Andy Blanchard <atacamandy at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> He's back, Ed nice to see you in print, even if its not in person. 
>>> 
>>> Have a great day
>>> 
>>> Andy Blanchard
>>> 289-337-6766H
>>> 905-847-7777B
>>> 905-330-5626C
>>> 
>>> On Nov 23, 2013, at 10:12 PM, Ed Mizzi <emizzi at cogeco.ca> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> David,
>>>> 
>>>> Considering that we were out there with that other gentleman, in the cold hours of dawn, while the rest of the world slept or were on their way to work, I think, that even though we couldn’t verify seeing the comet, we must have still seen it. And I’m accepting your DSLR image as proof. So there! Let the naysayers gnash their teeth all they want.
>>>> 
>>>> Ed
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Nov 23, 2013, at 8:57 PM, David Galbraith <dr_d_a_galbraith at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>> 
>>>>> As I have reported, this morning I took several dSLR images of the morning sky in the area where Comet ISON should appear, from the Burlington Waterfront. I wasn't able to spot the comet with binoculars or a 5" Mak telescope.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Attached is an attempt to find the comet on one of the frames from the tripod-mounted dSLR, compared to predicted locations of the comet and some markers. On the right is the predicted location of the comet at 6:15 AM relative to Mercury, Saturn, and the star Zubenelgenubi, a Stellarium screen capture from yesterday, for 6:15 AM this morning, with the comet highlighted.
>>>>> 
>>>>> On the left is an inverted B&W image from this morning, cropped, with contrast and brightness adjusted. This was a 4 second exposure at ISO 800, f/4.7, 63 mm focal length lens. There is a faint smudge in the correct spot. The enlarged rectangle above the labelled point on the larger image to the left is a 2x enlargement relative to the original pixels of the image.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The smudge is very close to where the comet should be. The ratios of distances on the photo between Saturn, Zubenelgenubi, and the putative cometary smudge are within 2% of those on the Stellarium screen capture.
>>>>> 
>>>>> A more sophisticated photographic and analysis approach would, I am sure, have done a better job (such as having the camera on a tracking mount and subsequently stacking several images) but given that there was perhaps 5 minutes without cloud of some sort before the area was just too light to find anything, I'm reasonably sure that the smudge represents the comet. I'd be happy for feedback.
>>>>> 
>>>>> cheers,
>>>>> 
>>>>> - David                         <ISON 20131123 images labelled.jpg>_______________________________________________
>>>>> astronomers mailing list
>>>>> astronomers at hamiltonrasc.ca
>>>>> http://hamiltonrasc.ca/mailman/listinfo/astronomers_hamiltonrasc.ca
>>>> 
>>>> 
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>> 
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