I quickly orientated myself and found PANSTARRS in the northwest using my 15 x 70 binoculars. Then I set up my DSLR on a tripod and, not being an expert on astroimaging, just starting playing around with some settings in manual mode. I started out at a wide angle and using an exposure time of 20 seconds. Once I'd found PANSTARRS in the frame I tried to fine tune the focus and exposure time. Then moving the camera slightly so that the comet was near the centre of the frame, I zoomed in to a longer focal length and tried again.
Anyway, I was reasonably pleased with the results . . .
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PANSTARRS above Cockermouth from Slate Fell |
Slate Fell turned out to be a pretty good observing point and not too much of a hike in the dark from the Embleton Road. There was still a fair amount of light pollution from Cockermouth to the West and even looking East towards Keswick as in the image below.
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Looking East towards Keswick and Skidaw |
If you're looking for a really nice image of PANSTARRS check out Stuart's latest image over on his Waiting for ISON blog. I won't spoil the surprise for you, just go and have a look!