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I find it very hard to believe that we got a few hours clear skies on the night of Saturday 28th Feb 2009 - when it has been wall-to-wall cloud cover for weeks. It meant I could fire up the New Forest Observatory for the evening and spend 4 fantastic hours capturing beautiful comet Lulin. Pre-processed the data Sunday and sent across to Florida where Noel Carboni worked his magic in creating this deep-sky work of art. Noel Carboni & Greg Parker proudly present to you - comet Lulin!!!



Noel & Greg

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Nexstar 11 GPS, 2 x Sky 90, M25C, MaximDL, Photshop CS3, Noel Carboni's Photoshop actions, 7 foot Pulsar fibreglass dome, Canon 40D, 100mm macro lens, 28-200mm zoom lens, 17-55mm f#2.8 zoom lens, 100-400mm zoom lens, 1.4x converter, 2x converter.
http://www.newforestobservatory.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12801949@N02/

Once again a breath-taking picture. So clear, almost "impossible".

How long was the exposure on this one if I may ask. I wonder if it required a very short one (for the comet) or a long one for the background stars. These are dimensions that I don't normally deal with.

Have visited your website lately and was quite impressed by what you do with Noel. Even recognized from British TV the famous person between the two of you whose name I have already forgotten again. Shame on me. Just have gotten to know about him recently.

regards,
HTG

Stunning photo. I heard about this comet on the news for the first time the other day. The green colour is caused by an atmosphere of Cyanide gas isn't it?

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My Flickr

Thanks both

The green is emission from cyanogen and molecular carbon (carbon monoxide).

The total expsoure time was just under 4-hours (77 subs at 3-minutes per sub). 11" Celestron reflector with the Hyperstar III lens attachment giving f#2.

Greg

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Nexstar 11 GPS, 2 x Sky 90, M25C, MaximDL, Photshop CS3, Noel Carboni's Photoshop actions, 7 foot Pulsar fibreglass dome, Canon 40D, 100mm macro lens, 28-200mm zoom lens, 17-55mm f#2.8 zoom lens, 100-400mm zoom lens, 1.4x converter, 2x converter.
http://www.newforestobservatory.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12801949@N02/

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Nice one, Greg. I was hoping you might be tempted to have a crack at Lulin and my, oh my, you haven't disappointed. Cracking shot.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Brilliant. I tried to locate Lulin last night with my binoculars but failed miserably!!

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Lee Diggle
My Astronomy Blog | My Photography Gallery

Thanks Bob - I was very lucky to get a few clear hours of sky, you can't believe the frustration I've been suffering knowing it's up there and being clouded out all the time.

Digz - I had enormous trouble finding it with my 10 x 50 binoculars. Sky was heavy with water vapour with a lot of sky glow which didn't help at all. Basically it is a LOT dimmer than I thought it would be, and you have to look for what is almost a faint cloudy glow (quite small) which is only marginally above the background. Visually it is VERY disappointing, fortunately it images quite well

Greg

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Nexstar 11 GPS, 2 x Sky 90, M25C, MaximDL, Photshop CS3, Noel Carboni's Photoshop actions, 7 foot Pulsar fibreglass dome, Canon 40D, 100mm macro lens, 28-200mm zoom lens, 17-55mm f#2.8 zoom lens, 100-400mm zoom lens, 1.4x converter, 2x converter.
http://www.newforestobservatory.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12801949@N02/

I saw this just before I got picked up for a business trip. 500 miles later, now in a hotel room with a headache and one ear that hasn't popped yet, I look at it and it still looks mesmerising.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Very pleased you like it Popo. I too have had a blistering headache all day - too little sleep over the weekend
Greg

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Nexstar 11 GPS, 2 x Sky 90, M25C, MaximDL, Photshop CS3, Noel Carboni's Photoshop actions, 7 foot Pulsar fibreglass dome, Canon 40D, 100mm macro lens, 28-200mm zoom lens, 17-55mm f#2.8 zoom lens, 100-400mm zoom lens, 1.4x converter, 2x converter.
http://www.newforestobservatory.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12801949@N02/