How Local Photographer Captured These Stunning Images Of Comet NEOWISE In Skies Over Peterborough

UPDATE (July 15th)

Here’s a couple more comet images Jay captured on Tuesday night around 10:20 p.m. from the south shore of Little Lake.

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ORIGINAL POST

Comet NEOWISE has been lighting up the early morning skies around the globe this month and Peterborough photographer Jay Callaghan was up bright and early on Thursday (July 9th) to capture it.

Currently NEOWISE is roughly 141 million kilometres from Earth and is gradually making its way closer to our planet as each day passes. The best time locally to see the comet has been in the early morning hours before sunrise, so in the wee hours, around 3:30 a.m., Jay was out capturing stunning images from the top of Armour Hill of the comet as well a great shot over Little Lake with the planet Venus to the right.

View from Armour Hill

View from Armour Hill

“Locating the comet can be a bit of a challenge but with use of websites dedicated to the comet, such as The Sky Live as well as Sky Map app for Android phones, I was able to pinpoint when and where the comet would be when it rose at 2:59 a.m. this morning,” Callaghan tells PTBOCanada.

”Once the location is known, it was easy to find the comet and even see it with the naked eye,” he adds. “The humidity on the horizon made it a bit difficult to see at first but the camera had no issue capturing it.”

View from Armour Hill

View from Armour Hill

View from Armour Hill

View from Armour Hill

Callaghan, known for his beautiful pictures of the outdoors and wildlife in the area and for tweeting—and stormchasing—about the weather locally, used a Canon 80D and Sigma 18-35 and 70-200 lens to take the comet photos.

“The shots ranged in exposure times of anywhere from 1-6 seconds depending on the amount of light as well as other settings on the camera (ISO, aperture, etc),” he tells PTBOCanada.

View from Little Lake

View from Little Lake

For those interested in viewing the comet, here’s what Callaghan recommends:

-> As the comet gets closer to earth, the chances of seeing it after sunset will increase but unfortunately, at this time, it appears that the magnitude (or brightness) of the comet looks to be getting lower so the sooner you can get out to see it the better. 

-> Make sure to visit the The Sky Live website, enter in your location and keep an eye on the rise and set times of the comet, as well as what constellation it will be residing in, for a chance to catch a glimpse.

-> Your best bet is to get away from city lights and don't forget the binoculars and camera. 

-> The comet will make its closest approach to Earth on July 23rd when it will be approximately 103 million kilometres away and then will slowly disappear from our view.

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