Comet Photography
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Photographing a comet is easy. Getting an excellent photograph of a comet is not. Ted and I learned this by burning up lots of rolls of film. Fortunately, we had two marvelous comets appear in the late 1990's providing us with lots of practice. It was a most excellent time!
Here are some tips.
Make sure you are using a good dark site. That is, no extra lighting nearby and minimal sky fog or background lighting.
The camera needs to be mounted so that it is tracking the stars. An equatorial mount is best and required if you are using a focal length longer than 300 mm for the lens.
Mounting the camera on the telescope in a piggyback fashion worked best. While the image was being exposed, the comet is held in the center of the telescope eyepiece.
A focal length of 200 mm to 300 mm is perfect for catching the tail amongst the back ground.
Shorter focal lengths of 50 to 100 mm are great for long tails and showing comets relative to bright stars.
Pick a night when the moon will not interfere with the longer exposures.
Our best results obtained to date have come from using ASA ratings of 400-800 (film or digital).
For long exposures that are tracking, do not include foreground objects.
Include foreground for wider angle images and do not track the comet with the camera, allow it to trail.
Long focal length photograph through a telescope requires fast film and long exposures that will over expose the coma (head).
Comet photography does not require a lot of equipment. You can have a lot of fun with a camera, a tripod, and a very dark location. The comet and star trails will produce interesting images and when combined with foreground objects can be considered quite artistic.