Comet C/2001 Q4 Neat May 24,2004

Comet C/2001 Q4 Neat May 24,2004
Comet C/2001 Q4 Neat May 24,2004
Canon Ftb  Canon 100mm @ f/2.8  Elite-Chrome E200 Push 1 (Photo Oregon) 6 min exposure
Pggyback on Losmandy G11 Mount  Guiding through Takahashi FS78
Taken from Dark Skies at Panther Creek, SW of Veneta, Oregon
5.8-6.0 Magnitude skies 2557′ elevation

Comet C/2001 Q4 Neat was discovered on August 4, 2001 by the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking Team (NEAT). This comet spent most of its time in the southern hemisphere until May 2004 when it went North and brightened.

Comet C/2001 Q4 NEAT, came within 0.34 astronomical units (au) of earth.  It reached  perihelion (closest approach in it’s orbit) on May 15, 2004 .  This hyperbolic comet will be flung out of our solar system, never to be seen again.

AU or Astronomical Unit (roughly earth’s distance from the sun)  93,000,000 miles.

I was lucky to have a clear May night in Oregon to image  Comet C/2001 Q4 Neat May 24, 2004.

Comet McNaught C/2006 P1

Comet McNaught
Comet McNaught -C/2006 P1  Taken January 11, 2007 (Sunset)
Canon EOS 20D  1/60 sec.  Canon 100mm Macro f/2.8  1600 ISO  Tripod
Snow on the ground +10 degrees Fahrenheit  Hundreds of Canadian Geese in the air
Fern Ridge Reservoir, 7 miles from Eugene, Oregon

Comet McNaught C/2006 P1 was a great naked eye comet.  However in Oregon, it appeared while we had a snow storm in Eugene.  The above image was taken at Fern Ridge Reservoir with thousands of Canadian Geese flying about, some of them appear in this image.  The comet was very close to the sun at this latitude and very difficult to image.