In the early evening of Jul 17/18, 2020, under good conditions, I took some pictures of Comet C/2020 F3 (Neowise) from a location in Pittsford.
This comet was first noticed in data from the NEOWISE satellite. It is currently passing close to both the Earth and the Sun, and is bright enough to be seen easily if one knows where to look. Some good sources for finding charts and background are:
I didn't take these pictures from the RIT Observatory; instead, I chose a site with a good horizon to the northeast: the parking lot behind the Pittsford Sutherland High School.
I arrived around 9:30 PM and set up my equipment. There were several families in the parking lot, and we all waited for the sky to darken. First, the Big Dipper revealed itself, and then, around 9:30 PM, the comet gradually became visible.
Click on an image to see a larger version.
At the top of this frame, one can see the two "pointer stars" at the end of the bowl of the Big Dipper.
Nikon D50 camera, Nikkor AF 18-35 mm f/3.5-4.5 D lens set to 18mm, f/5, 5 second exposure, UT 2020 July 18 01:53.
Nikon D50 camera, Nikkor AF 18-35 mm f/3.5-4.5 D lens set to 35mm, f/5, 3 x 5 second exposure, UT 2020 July 18 01:57.
As the sky grew darker, the comet sank lower in the sky, which brought it closer to the bright horizon. It did not become much easier to see to the naked eye. I walked down from the parking lot, which overlooks the athletic field, to the field itself, in order to remove some of the high school's lights from my field of view.
Nikon D50 camera, Nikkor AF 18-35 mm f/3.5-4.5 D lens set to 35mm, f/5, 5 x 8 second exposure, UT 2020 July 18 02:08.
Nikon D50 camera, Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8 AIS lens, f/2.8, 12 x 3 second exposure. UT 2020 July 18 02:17.
Last modified 7/18/2020 by MWR.