Magnitude +2.4 Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) continues to provide amazing opportunities for photographers, and the dynamic terrain around Crested Butte, Colorado allowed me to capture one image I was not sure I would (could?) get: a night landscape image containing both the Milky Way and Comet NEOWISE. The comet’s location in the northern part of the sky makes it quite challenging to portray along with the Milky Way, since it lies 180° opposite, due south this time of year.
Crested Butte
Living in Colorado I am blessed with an amazing array of terrain to photograph in the Four Corners region, but Crested Butte is one of the places that is magical for a photographer. It is considered the ‘Wildflower Capital’ of Colorado, and its unique physiographic characteristics probably allowed it to become so. Mt. Crested Butte is the center around which many valleys essentially radiate outward, providing myriad opportunities for exploration, varied microclimates within each, while also exhibiting colorful rock somehwat characteristic of the volcanic San Juans to the south, less so of the vast array of ‘grey’ plutonic mountains of central and northern Colorado.
For my second night of photographing Comet NEOWISE on 7/18/20, the weather cooperated and my choice of location–near Paradise Divide–worked out well for capturing both the Comet and the Milky Way. The Upper Slate River Basin is a captivating place, especially as viewed from my high perch at 10,843′ MSL on Washington Gulch Road as you approach Paradise Divide. The linear, steeply-sloping valley up to Yule Pass often has deep snow debris at the bottom, sometimes not melting out prior to the following winter.
Utilizing The Photographer’s Ephemeris to choose my location in advance, I knew that Paradise Divide proper would not give me the view I needed, and thus found a spot on Washington Gulch Road just short of the Divide that was wide enough to park (it’s a 25-35° slope everywhere), with enough room to camp as well as a spot to pitch my custom Dream Hammock Sparrow. That hammock is a photographer’s dream; no more messing with tents or emptying the 4Runner to sleep in the back, all I need is one attachment point in addition to the roof rack (most of my campsites are dictated by this!).
Enough about the Butte.
Comet NEOWISE
Anyway, many things can impact the quality of night images (clouds, air transparency, a plethora of camera-related settings, airplanes and satellites, location and light pollution, timing, degree of darkness due to sun and moon, etc.), and fortunately it all came together for this robust 220° view panorama image. There are 24 satellites in this image, and zero airplanes (I can’t tell you what a revelation it is to be a night photographer in these times of COVID-19, as airplanes are practically non-existent compared to 7 months ago!). I’ve spent a fair bit of time photographing comets, and I think this night wins.
In the image above, Saturn and Jupiter are left of the Milky Way, while Comet NEOWISE’s two tails shine brightly as it sets over the flank of Cinnamon Mountain, near Yule Pass. The bluish, straight ion tail points directly at the sun, while the dust tail pushes to the right due to both comet movement (relative to the earth) and the influence of the solar wind. The camera position was in a Bortle Class 2 dark site, while the light pollution of Crested Butte (Class 3) and Gunnison (Class 4) can be seen as ‘domes’ of amber light on the left-center horizon, with lights from dispersed campers at Slate River (below center) and Paradise Divide (right of comet). Sky image was captured about 20 minutes after the end of astronomical twilight (e.g. true night), with the waning crescent moon having set hours earlier. Perfect conditions.
TECHNICAL DETAILS:
Canon 5Ds body, Tamron 35mm f/1.4 Di lens (45 minutes image capture time):
- SKY: 8s, f/1.8, ISO 4000 (10 images, panorama stitched in PTGui)
- FOREGROUND: 60s, f/1.8, ISO 4000 (30 images, 3 10-image focus-stacks compiled in Helicon Focus, resulting panorama stitched in Lightroom Classic)
Post-processing this 45 minutes worth of capture time took about 5.5 hours, and was well worth the effort.
Final TIF file size is 4.2GB, the 602MP file can be printed natively (i.e. no scaling) at 130 x 51″ at 300dpi. That makes Comet NEOWISE’s ion tail a bit over 12″ high on the wall!
Here is a duplicate image annotated with notable features of the sky and terrain on this night (click image for legible version):
