Comets seen and photographed recently at Halley by Stuart
Colley
Below is a picture of Comet 2001 Q4, a comet that was visible in late April
and early May, although this comet is no longer visible from Halley it can
be seen in the northern hemisphere. At the time this picture was taken
(May 3rd, 22:43 GMT) the comet was between 3rd & 4th magnitude, although
it could be seen with the naked eye, a good pair of binoculars revealed only
a very slight tail. This picture was taken with a Nikon FM2/T camera
and Nikon
80-200mm AF-D f/2.8 lens (at 200mm). The exposure was 5s at f/2.8
on Fuji Neopan 1600 (given 'normal' development in D-76).
This image (below) of Comet 2002 T7 was taken on the 18th May at 18:51 GMT
with a Nikon FM3a camera and Nikon 80-200mm AF-D lens (at 200mm). The
relatively long exposure of 15s at f/2.8 (on Ilford Delta 3200) shows some
star trailing but enables the comets tail to more easily distinguished.
Finally, this is a picture of Comet 2002 T7, which has been visible throughout
May. It has been a much more interesting object to view having a clear
tail and being brighter than Comet 2001 Q4 (between 2nd and 3rd magnitude).
The comet can be seen in the top left quadrant of the image whilst the constellation
of Orion can be seen in the bottom right. The picture was taken on
the 19th May at 19:12 GMT with a Nikon FM3a camera and Nikon 50mm f/1.2 lens.
The exposure was 5s at f/1.2 on Ilford Delta 3200 ('normal' development in
D-76).
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