SatTrackCam Leiden (b)log: C/2007 N3 Lulin

Tuesday, 24 February 2009

Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin from Leiden

The weather is horrible these days, so I was much surprised by short clearings developing around local midnight last night. These allowed me a short peek and photo session on comet C/2007 N3 Lulin.

In the ETX-70 (small 7 cm refractor) at 14x, visually the comet was a nice fuzzy ball with a tail in NW-SE direction. Easy to find, especially as it was only a few degrees from Saturn.

I had only a short window of opportunity to photograph the comet before clouds came in again. Below image is a stack of 24 x 10 second exposures, made with the Canon EOS 450D (@800 ISO) and EF 50/2.5 Macro lesn (@ F2.8) between 23:18 and 23:26 UTC (23 feb).

Note that the conditions were far from perfect: not the best of skies, the comet low in the sky (35 degrees), and in the middle of Leiden town! So I am happy with the result.

(click image to enlarge)

Excerpt from United Nations resolution 2222 (XXI)

Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies

In order to promote international co-operation in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, States Parties to the Treaty conducting activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, agree to inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations as well as the public and the international scientific community, to the greatest extent feasible and practicable, of the nature, conduct, locations and results of such activities. On receiving the said information, the Secretary-General of the United Nations should be prepared to disseminate it immediately and effectively.