Moon and Hale-Bopp

October 30, 2007

Moonbopp_p

Provided and copyright by: Doug Zubenel, OwlEye Mobile Observatory
Summary authors & editors: Doug Zubenel, Stu Witmer

This is the ten year anniversary of Comet Hale-Bopp's visit to our part of the solar system. The photo above shows Hale-Bopp gracefully traversing the night sky in close proximity to the waxing crescent Moon. It was captured on May 8, 1997 from Douglas County, Kansas. Earthshine (sunlight reflected off the earth) brightly illuminates the "dark" portion of the Moon, providing a beautiful fore-sky to the comet (in the mid-sky) amongst a sprinkling of stars in the deep sky. This was a rare opportunity, and fortunately, the sky was clear!

Photo details: This is a 2 minute exposure with a 135 mm lens, at f/2.8 on Fuji Velvia 50 film.