Comet Lovejoy from Canberra. Image Credit: Barry Armstead
Barry Armstead was among the lucky people who were able to capture the amazing show made by Comet Lovejoy in the skies of the Southern hemisphere the past few days.
“I got up on Thursday night/Friday morning at 3am, checked the sky and it was a black blanket of cloud. I observed for around 20 minutes while simultaneously checking the Bureau of Meteorology to confirm that the clouds weren’t going anywhere. Back to bed to grind my teeth and grumble something about Murphy’s law.
This morning, I stayed up until 1:30am, had a little snooze on the couch and checked the night sky every half hour. At 2:30am the sky turned crystal clear! I loaded everything in the ute and took off like a bull at a gate for the mountains south-west of Canberra and away from the city light.
And there it was! Comet Lovejoy in all it’s glory, lighting up the heavens like a searchlight, signalling passing spacecraft.”
More images from Barry Armstead below!
Comet Lovejoy. Image Credit: Barry Armstead
Image Credit: Barry Armstead
Image Credit: Barry Armstead
Barry also provided us with a few camera specs used.
The first, third and fourth photos – 30 seconds F/2.8 ISO 800, 16mm Canon 5DMKII
Second close-up – 15 Seconds F/4 ISO1600, 70mm Canon 5DMKII
Check out Barry’s websites for more photos:
http://barryarmsteadphotography.webs.com/
http://www.asignobservatory.com/
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Dianne Castaneda is the Assistant Editor of Universe Today. She's also a Civil Engineer who has worked for a Government-sponsored University research project. Her interests are physics, traveling and music.
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