Comet McNaught

23 Jan 2007, from 42.5 degrees South

Taken with my Minolta Dynax 7D using a Cosina 28-70mm 3.5 - 5.6 lens, the wrong one to use. I used it because I thought a narrow field of view would be a good idea. I ought to have taken my Minolta 50mm lens for it's bigger aperture and gathered more light.

These pictures were taken in RAW format with ISO 400 and about a minutes exposure (why you see the stars smudge as they've moved a little) and then tweaked a little in Photoshop to make them better approximate the experience.

I've no idea what the glow in the top right is, there was no light source in that direction so I'm thinking it's some kind of reflection on the lens. Possibly from the camera itself, although I think I covered the eyepiece during the long exposure.