Comet 2001 Q4 (NEAT), May 2004

I took these several evenings apart, with an SLR piggy-backed on my telescope. The first one was with a 50mm lens and there was still plenty of daylight about so the comet shows up as little more than a fuzzy blob (arrowed). However, satellite Iridium 53 happened to pass as the picture was being taken, leaving the distinctive diamond-shaped trail. The International Space Station was also flying over my house at the time, although it narrowly missed getting in the picture, and I didn't notice it until after the exposure was complete. These were both complete coincidences - sometimes the sky is just full of stuff. You only need to look.

The second picture was taken four days later with a 300mm lens. The comet had changed position noticeably, and it was higher up in the sky so I could afford to wait until it was darker before taking the picture. This time, a tail is just about visible.

pic of comet pic of comet

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