Something in the sky last night

My first topic on ATS... I never would've thought it would be about this...

I was out shooting comet Pan-Starrs last night. I started a little early so I wouldn't have to rush. I was shooting with 2 DSLR cameras. One at 200mm and one at 300mm. Well before Pan-Starrs was supposed to be visible I saw something that looked "comet-ish" but was too high and way too bright. I took a couple of shots of it. On a whim I decided to go get another camera and an 800mm lens so get a better look at it. Unfortunately, in less than a couple of minutes, it was gone. It barely moved when I was watching it and in a few minutes... gone...

Mods- The images (and therefore the copyright) are mine. So is the website that I am linking to. If I could've figured out how to upload them I would have done that instead.

Any ideas?

This is with a 200mm lens on a 1.3 crop sensor. The foreground tree is about 100 yards out. The image is not cropped



This is with a 300mm lens on a 1.6 crop sensor. I cropped it at least 100% in photoshop



This one is the image just above it only I cropped in as tight as I could and still have something usable (barely)

Aircraft with a short contrail, illuminated by the sun.
Given the number of times they get mentioned on ATS, they're far more common than most people realise.

The playback feature on flightradar.com could tell you exactly which plane it was.

looks like a spaceman lost a shoe..

Seriously tho, the angle of it and its little trails, the fact it wasnt moving, very interesting photo even if its easily explained...

First of all, Welcome and Congratulations! You might have witnessed and photographed PAN-STARRS, a comet that was due to flyby March 12 to 13. It's a possibility you caught it at the right time....

But judging from the picture you might aswell have photographed an airplane and its contrail.

The last image is probably the best detail, from which I got a plane producing a contrail - But I understand why you shared them

Would be nice if ATS could sticky a thread with some common pictures like these which are easily explained.

Contrail with a jet at very high altitude.

Did you get any shots of Pan-Starrs? Our weather has skunked me each time!

I thought it was a high flying something since it didn't move much. And it "disappeared" because it flew out of the sunlight. The shape of the contrail seems odd. Kind of supersonic shockwavy... But I'll go with the contrail explanation

It definitely wasn't Pan-Starrs. It was much higher in the sky and the "tail" was pointed in the wrong direction

Pan-Starrs looked like this

reply to post by Mike6158


Nice pics of Panstarrs can you give exif data for the other photographers on here waiting for a clear night like myself

Originally posted by Mike6158
I thought it was a high flying something since it didn't move much. And it "disappeared" because it flew out of the sunlight. The shape of the contrail seems odd. Kind of supersonic shockwavy... But I'll go with the contrail explanation

It definitely wasn't Pan-Starrs. It was much higher in the sky and the "tail" was pointed in the wrong direction

That looked like this

WOW! I am impressed and now even more bummed I have not seen it yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GRRRRRRRRRRRRR


Where are you at if I can ask? State is fine.

Oh And due to air currents and throttling contrails can appear to cut out...

Dang... this site moves fast.

Texas between San Antonio and Houston

First image EXIF (Note: shooting with the moon in the frame, no matter how slim, is always a trade-off. The inherent brightness of the moon usually drives exposure to about 2 stops under exposed. In this case the sky was bright enough that I could get a balanced exposure. In the second shot the moon is slightly over exposed, corrected in LR4, so that I could get a balanced exposure for the rest of the scene.)

Camera make Canon
Camera model Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Focal length 300 mm
Max lens aperture f/2.8
Exposure 1/8 at f/2.8
Flash Not fired
Exposure bias 0 EV
Exposure mode Manual
Exposure prog. Manual
ISO speed ISO 800
Metering mode Pattern

Second shot EXIF

Camera make Canon
Camera model Canon EOS 60Da
Focal length 200 mm
Max lens aperture f/2
Exposure 0.6s at f/2
Flash Not fired
Exposure bias 0 EV
Exposure mode Manual
Exposure prog. Manual
ISO speed ISO 1600
Metering mode Pattern

In all cases I did not let shutter speed go longer than 4s to minimize trailing

PS- I never saw the comet by eye. I found it with binoculars and my camera picked it up just fine. I think that every time the image came up on the LCD screen it wiped out my night vision and that prevented me from seeing it.

reply to post by Mike6158

Welcome on ATS!

I think that Alfa1 got it right.

Your photo....



.... is very similar to those of a short contrail lit by the sun during sunset (or sunrise):







Closer view:

Originally posted by Mike6158
PS- I never saw the comet by eye. I found it with binoculars and my camera picked it up just fine. I think that every time the image came up on the LCD screen it wiped out my night vision and that prevented me from seeing it.

edit on 3/13/2013 by Mike6158 because: Ps'd

I have caught Andromeda in the city with my camera. Crazy huh? I am jealous!

There is a mod for your camera that will give it a red tint and not mess with your night vision. I forget what it is at the moment but you can load it on a SD card boot to it and gives you more Astro-photo friendly features.

reply to post by Mike6158


That's some serious kit an EOS 1D MK IV a 300 f2.8 and a 60DA are you a pro or a wealthy amateur!

reply to post by abeverage


Is that an option with magic lantern firmware for Canon cameras

Originally posted by wmd_2008
reply to post by abeverage

 

Is that an option with magic lantern firmware for Canon cameras

YEP! That's it! There is a dark theme that is easier on the eyes. I also use a laptop and have an option to do red screen.


MAGIC LANTERN

And Oh how I would love a 60DA...

You guys threw out the tree for a forest.....
That high flyer is definately something very interesting....!
Try picture no 17 on the above Pann stars link provided by the OP
Notice the wedge shape of the craft......
The thing is wayeee up there too.....i think it could be the same ship that plane spotting champion in north sea spotted fuelling up from a K135 tanker with an escortof two fighter jets.....
Thats no 747 for damn sure!

reply to post by stirling


It may not be a747 but it's nothing special

reply to post by Mike6158


Airline jet with contrails....light reflecting off of it in a specific angle which makes it look out of this world.

I think of myself as a semi-wannabe-pro camera collector.

reply to post by Skywatcher2011


My sense of humor wants me to go look up the "swamp gas speech" from Men In Black

But I have this one memorized and I'm feeling lazy so I'll use it instead

We are Borg
Lower your shields and surrender your ships
We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own
Your culture will adapt to service us
Resistance is futile

Originally posted by stirling
You guys threw out the tree for a forest.....

That high flyer is definately something very interesting....!
Try picture no 17 on the above Pann stars link provided by the OP
Notice the wedge shape of the craft......
The thing is wayeee up there too.....i think it could be the same ship that plane spotting champion in north sea spotted fuelling up from a K135 tanker with an escortof two fighter jets.....
Thats no 747 for damn sure!

FWIW, it was well above commercial aircraft altitudes. The contrails looked like they "could be" plasma forming around a re-entry vehicle rather than a vapor cloud. It helps that I have the original to zoom in on so I don't lose the pixels like shrinking, posting, and then linking to an image does. However... I'm usually skeptical about such things. You're right though... it wasn't a 747...