Pecos Hank

HOW TO SEE COMET NEOWISE - Tonight and this week.

Added 2020-07-19 18:05:53 +0000 UTC

Last night I was finally able to see and capture the comet 40 miles outside Houston light pollution. Here’s how you can (kinda) see it...

WE COULD BARELY SEE IT with the naked eye. To us, it looked like a small cirrus cloud under the Big Dipper. Recommend bringing binoculars or a telescope. The further you are away from any lights, the better. Especially in the East where high humidity can scatter light everywhere hazing the horizon.

YOUR CAMERA CAN SEE IT really well. Mount it on a tripod and shoot long exposures anywhere from 2 - 10 seconds. Any longer and the stars streak too much for my liking as the Earth turns. The higher the ISO, the brighter the comet and the more grain. Balance that out with your preference.

HERE’s WHERE IT WILL BE located the next several dates in most of the US...

You’ll have a short window just after last light when the comet is most visible until it sets into the hazy horizon. So scope out your chill spot and enjoy a cloudless sunset if you can.

MY CAMERA GEAR IS NOT IDEAL for zooming up on stars. I shot the title image with a zoom lens zoomed to about 220mm. Notice the terrible vignetting. Other Patrons have had much better success at capturing Neowise and you can their shots in our community section here.

ITS NOT THE MOST DRAMATIC COMET, but it’s still a comet and a joy to capture. Especially for science nerds like us. You’ll be Uber glad you went. Be sure and post your adventure in our community section for other Patrons.

Those that have had success capturing it, please add any tips I might have missed.

Happy hunting!

Hank