Comet NEOWISE

[George K]

Thanks, Elon Musk. Thanks a lot.

Nowhere is safe from light pollution, not even space. On Wednesday, astrophotographer Daniel López shared a photo he captured of Comet NEOWISE the day before at Teide National Park on the Canary Islands. However, SpaceX’s Starlink satellites ruined the image, painting streaks across the otherwise largely pristine sky.

This is the satellites’ latest intrusion into the world of astronomy. Greater concerns around the inescapable presence of light have existed on planet Earth for years, but human-made illumination is starting to pollute the edges of the planet, too. Astronomers are facing challenges when these satellites pop up and pollute images they take of far-off galaxies and, now, comets.

SpaceX has launched 540 satellites into orbit as part of its efforts to bring high-speed internet throughout the world by 2021. The plan, though, is for the company to eventually have tens of thousands of these satellites in space. The company is run by Elon Musk, a billionaire not exactly known for following rules or caring about how his decisions impact others. But it’s not just SpaceX, other companies want to follow suit as well. Understandably, the astronomy community is pissed.

[89th]

Haha wow, I'm sure in 100 years our satellite ring will be like a cloud of dust around the Earth.

[mark]

We found it tonight! Binoculars are a must. We used a pair of 9x63 Swift and my big 15x70mm Astro-Physics binoculars.

The tail was visible but being that our little city is west of of house, the light pollution made it very hard to see the tail. We could see it, but, we had to use averted vision to get it to pop.

[89th]

Cool!

[brenda]

[brenda]

[89th]

Your pics? Great!!!!

[brenda]

Those are hubby's pics.

[89th]

Love the background of stars he captured in the photo, too

[brenda]

Yes, I love that, too.

The top one was featured on the local news channel.

[taiwan_girl]

@brenda Those are awesome!!

[George K]

@brenda said in Comet NEOWISE:

Yes, I love that, too.

The top one was featured on the local news channel.

Awesome, indeed.

What equipment was he using (asking for @Mark)?

[mark]

Very cool photos brenda!

[Horace]

Great photos Brenda!

[brenda]

@George-K said in Comet NEOWISE:

@brenda said in Comet NEOWISE:

Yes, I love that, too.

The top one was featured on the local news channel.

Awesome, indeed.

What equipment was he using (asking for @Mark)?

He was using the camera he gave me for Christmas so that he could use it.

It's okay. There's no way he can question any of my purchases, and I'm having fun with that.

I'll have to check to see what kind of camera it is. I'm not into photography. That's his hobby. I just take pics with my phone.

[brenda]

Looks like it's a Canon EOS M50. I also see a 15-45 mm image stabilizer next to it, and he used a tripod.

[brenda]

He likes it, and it seems to do a good job for him. If you have specific questions about it, I can ask him.

[Aqua Letifer]

@brenda said in Comet NEOWISE:

I'm not into photography. That's his hobby.

That does he like to shoot?

[brenda]

@Aqua-Letifer said in Comet NEOWISE:

@brenda said in Comet NEOWISE:

I'm not into photography. That's his hobby.

That does he like to shoot?

Scenery, wildlife, sunrise ...

[Aqua Letifer]

Is he on the 'gram?