Picture of Elenin "Breaking Up": Where Are the Star Trails?

Ever since mankind was invented, when there is a new comet the same thing happens: gloom and doom and the end of the world is very freaking nigh! Just so you know where I'm coming from, I don't really believe Elenin is all that.

However, this article from space.com has me a bit baffled, and I thought the ATS community would help me shine some light on the anomaly in this picture:



The picture on the left was taken August 19th, the one on the right September 6th. The article suggests that this may show that Elenin is breaking up because it is now much dimmer than it was when it was farther from the sun. However, one thing struck me immediately about the more recent picture:

"Why aren't there any star trails in the picture?" You'd think the photographer would've taken a picture with the same exposure time as the first one.

About the star trails: The older picture was taken with a longer exposure, that's why the stars are elongated because the camera is tracking Elenin. The newer one, that supposedly shows Elenin being dimmer, was taken with a shorter exposure, which would, of course, make Elenin appear dimmer, but it also doesn't leave enough time for star trails to appear.

It kind of boggles me that space.com would actually post these two pics as possible "proof" of the comet breaking up when even an amateur like me saw the absence of star trails in about 3 seconds! Could it be some conspiracy to try to fool the "average person" that hasn't had experience enough to know the difference between the two pictures? A cover up could be one explanation to allay panic, but there could be other explanations less nefarious, I suppose.

Anyway, if this has already been explained or debunked, my apologies!

/TOA

Wow. Nice find. See, that would have worked for me as I do not have any knowledge of photography, but you would think that a major media source would know better that there would be knowledgeable people to point that out.
Strange

reply to post by The Old American


I thought we would stop hearing about that comet but everyday people find ways to bring it back



.... But I have to admit that this is a very good observation! I didn't notice it right away. Like you said, you would think that the picture was taken with the same exposure and bla bla bla but again, like you said, where are all the star trails!!??

reply to post by The Old American


Chadwickus already has a current thread dealing with this if you would like further information.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

IRM

reply to post by InfaRedMan


His thread is closed and I don't see that his deals with the missing star trails that I brought up. Thanks, though!

/TOA

Originally posted by The Old American
Ever since mankind was invented, when there is a new comet the same thing happens: gloom and doom and the end of the world is very freaking nigh! Just so you know where I'm coming from, I don't really believe Elenin is all that.

However, this article from space.com has me a bit baffled, and I thought the ATS community would help me shine some light on the anomaly in this picture:

The picture on the left was taken August 19th, the one on the right September 6th. The article suggests that this may show that Elenin is breaking up because it is now much dimmer than it was when it was farther from the sun. However, one thing struck me immediately about the more recent picture:

"Why aren't there any star trails in the picture?" You'd think the photographer would've taken a picture with the same exposure time as the first one.

About the star trails: The older picture was taken with a longer exposure, that's why the stars are elongated because the camera is tracking Elenin. The newer one, that supposedly shows Elenin being dimmer, was taken with a shorter exposure, which would, of course, make Elenin appear dimmer, but it also doesn't leave enough time for star trails to appear.

It kind of boggles me that space.com would actually post these two pics as possible "proof" of the comet breaking up when even an amateur like me saw the absence of star trails in about 3 seconds! Could it be some conspiracy to try to fool the "average person" that hasn't had experience enough to know the difference between the two pictures? A cover up could be one explanation to allay panic, but there could be other explanations less nefarious, I suppose.

Anyway, if this has already been explained or debunked, my apologies!

/TOA

Very good, finally maybe the deniers will cease. If the same exposure were done on the second image, not only would it be brighter, but more pronounced as the tail would be seen to have expanded even more.

Good find OP.

It's simple, he used 10 x 10 second exposures on the one on the right. What he would of done is stack the 10 pictures to get the detail on the comet and then select just one to use as the background picture. The one with the trails was only stacked and wasn't processed further to remove the trailing.
They weren't the same exposures either. It's all about the post processing.

Originally posted by pazcat
It's simple, he used 10 x 10 second exposures on the one on the right. What he would of done is stack the 10 pictures to get the detail on the comet and then select just one to use as the background picture. The one with the trails was only stacked and wasn't processed further to remove the trailing.
They weren't the same exposures either. It's all about the post processing.

edit on 22-9-2011 by pazcat because: (no reason given)

Great explanation! However, if one wants to prove something, one makes the conditions as equal as possible.

Trying to prove that an elephant is afraid of mice by one day introducing one mouse and the next day introducing 100 mice and firecrackers doesn't prove the theory.

/TOA

I doubt he was trying to prove a thing as there is nothing to prove. He is an astronomer and a comet imager, he just wanted to image the comet and did so in whatever way was suitable at the time. This wasn't a scientific study to appease the internet nutjobs, just a guy imaging a comet.

It's always the little things that add fuel to the fire....
Good catch!
s & f

reply to post by InfaRedMan


I guess his thread was closed before someone made this exact observation and would have ruined Chad's entire premise, knowingly using completely different photos and using it as proof of a breakup or "weakening".

Star and Flagged.

Originally posted by pazcat
I doubt he was trying to prove a thing as there is nothing to prove. He is an astronomer and a comet imager, he just wanted to image the comet and did so in whatever way was suitable at the time. This wasn't a scientific study to appease the internet nutjobs, just a guy imaging a comet.

I understand what you're saying, and I want to reiterate that I don't believe Elenin is anything but a normal comet. But space.com showed the two pics side-by-side as possible "proof" that Elenin is breaking up. Very sloppy, or very suspicious, depending on perspective.

/TOA

reply to post by The Old American


I cannot explain what is happening to comet Elenin but I can describe some of the difficulties associated with making comparative photographs of this type.

According the the JPL orbital simulator (JPL Small Body Database: C/2010 X1(Elenin)), Elenin was 1.233 AU from earth on August 19th and 0.830 AU on September 6th. On just solid angle considerations alone, we would expect Elenin to appear to be ~220% brighter for identical exposure times simply due to the change in distance. Secondly, for the most part, the comet trajectory on these two dates was primarily towards earth and motion blur from earths rotation contributed to the bulk of observed star trails; but this has since changed significantly. Because this comet will not hit earth we should expect the trajectory to become more and more tangential to earths path. Photographs after September 6th should show longer star trails as the comets tangential velocity adds to burring from earth rotation; bottom line-it gets harder to capture photographs that can be compared to earlier images.

Best regards,
Z

The comet is too close to the Sun to even see it anymore. No one knows what is happening with it. It may have broken up, but then again, it may not have.

Just wait till the 25-27th, when the Earth will be bathed in the ion tail. Then we will know one way or another.

reply to post by CaptChaos


We won't be bathed in the ion tail of Elenin on 25-27 September. We won't be anywhere near its tail, unless 30+ million miles away counts as near these days. My fingers are worn down to bloody stumps from having to write this so often.

reply to post by The Old American


Why is NASA lying to us that Elenin has "broken up" when clearly it has not?

The rabbit hole goes deeper...

Why the official story about Comet Elenin breaking up doesn't make sense

Nice work!!

Okay, a couple of things to add:-

1) Why did NASA feel obliged to release a video to try and allay all fearmongering regarding Elenin? I mean if it really is insignificant as they claim it is, why bother spending time on money on debunking something that hasn't been mentioned on the MSM therefore not being debated around the water cooler?

2) I'm sure Phage will be along soon and he will shower us with his expertise on why you are incorrect. Peace.

Guy's whatever!!!!!!!
What do you give or gain from proving that Elenin is still intact?
If it is going to bring a new age then we will see it come once it's time.
If it is going to bring destruction then it just will nothing to do about it.

ITS TO LATE TO CHANGE ANYTHING IF ELENIN WILL BRING APOCALYPSE JUST LIVE.
THERE IS NO DEATH.end of caps.

reply to post by InfaRedMan


And I made a counter thread

AND it appears SOHO Lasco C3 camera is missing pics now....

reply to post by Cobaltic1978


Look, all the evidence points to YES....BUT not even Leonid Elenins site claims it definitely has.