Comet Ison

I was just curious what tips & hints any astro gang members here might be willing to share regarding photographing comet ISON which is due next month & January. Do you really need to go to the back of beyond to get a suitable dark sky?

Thank you

-Johan

The comet is on its way towards the Sun and it needs to be viewed from a dark site through binoculars. It should be visible here in the back of beyond. It is currently cloudy (and snowy) but forecast is better next week. I am hopeful of getting an image. It will pass around the Sun - it might emerge brightly and be visible or it might break up, unpredictable.

The Lovejoy comet so far has been much easier to see than ISON.

This link shows you when it is visible, in theory.
Click on Earth View top left.

If it survives the sun it will be better in December, but at the moment there is no way of knowing how bright it will be.
There are lots of good photos of it around already, many taken by digiscoping. I don't think there have been any taken with a normal long lens yet, but I could be wrong.

We haven't had uncloudy skies here for ages, so I haven't had the chance to get out early and try to spot it.

Adrian - you will miss your dark French skies next year won't you?

Thanks for the link Gwyn, very interesting. Had fun trying to work out a "Deep Impact" scenario

Sure will, big time.

This link is very interesting for speed and distance information as you can literally watch it changing in front of you.

Well it has been too cloudy here. It is clear tonight but I think it's too close to the Sun to view in the morning.

Could be wrong, but I doubt you'll be able to see or photograph ISON now. At present it is very close to the Sun and will be lost in the glare. I did see a photo taken on the 22nd which was very good but was taken from the Canaries under perfect conditions.

If it survives the journey around the Sun it could look good in December and January and for a good while will be visible all night.

IMO the best and also visually attractive way of seeing where ISON (and lots of other celestial objects) will be is the free Stellarium -

http://www.stellarium.org/

It can be set to your own lat. and long., so can be tailored to your location. I think it now downloads with the ISON data included, but if not, there is an ISON plugin.

Dave

It isn't visible now. We have to wait and see if it survives grazing the sun. If it does it will become visible to the naked eye again in early December.

Let's hope it survives, and we get some clear skies.

Fingers crossed!

Not looking good.http://www.universetoday.com/106813/is-comet-ison-dead-astronomers-say-its-likely-after...

Latest news tonight is that there may be a very small part of it surviving after it went round the sun tonight, they are checking at the moment.

Stuart

Damm!

And my astrotracer thing arrived today

It's dead link

Well apparently it might not be completely dead....

Stuart