After hours of trying to find a spot with decent viewing, finally settled on Lizard Head Pass in the San Juan National Forest, Colorado. Shot from 11,000', the air was amazing and the comet's dust tail seems to be dragging off to the north (right in this image). Wilson Peak on left, Lizard Head center-right. 5Ds and Tamron 35/1.4 for this one; you sure can get more detail in the far reaches of the tail with fast lenses. Kicking myself I don't have an 85/1.4 for this...
Since the forum software wouldn't let me upload yesterday even though I was beyond 24 hours, here's the post...
Comet NEOWISE and Starlink satellite train (ack!)
Well, it finally happened, took two days of shooting the northern sky to capture a train of Starlink satellites, in this case right next to Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE. A bit disconcerting contemplating the future night sky, more here if interested.
Finally shot panos with the EF100/2.8 IS Macro lens; pretty dang sharp, but you gotta nail the focus to avoid CA.
Just got back into town after vacating the Four Corners area due to the abundant monsoonal moisture in the atmosphere; it came in like a freight train yesterday! Unfortunately it will render comet viewing nearly useless for a multi-state area for the next week or so. The calculated magnitude of the comet seems to be now waning more quickly as it approaches Earth (closest tomorrow), and the waxing moon will soon render the reaches of the tail much more difficult to view.
The Lizard Head image is daylight-balanced, with the variable colors being provided by airglow. The tail was magnificent on this night, I swear the ion tail was about 10°, while the dust trail appeared even longer, though harder to make out being more dispersed.
