Comet Hale-Bopp

These photos were taken on March 26, 1997 outside Champaign, IL with a Canon AE-1P, with a 52mm lens and Kodak 800 ASA film. Special thanks to Robert for supplying the tripod(s) and the remote shutter-release thingamajig.

This was taken at f1.8, either 4 or 8 seconds. (I took shots at 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 45, and 60ish seconds...or maybe I started at 4, I forget. I only know this was the 2nd one in the series.) This is my favorite shot of the series. I like that I got all of Cassiopeia in the frame.

If the image at left is too big for your taste, there's also a 640x480-friendly version (9K) of it.

This was the 4th one in the same series, so it's either 16 or 32 seconds, still f1.8. It's a bit washed out at the bottom, because it was getting late, the comet was getting low, and there were farmhouse lights and so on below. Still, there are several things I like about this one. For one thing, there are more stars visible. For another, you can just barely make out the blue ion tail. And finally, what's that down there below Cassiopeia?

Once again, here's a 640x480-friendly version (20K).