Comet 73P by AstronomyMan

Photography • Space • posted on May 19, 2006

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Description

OK, just to prove that comets move, here are 30 pictures of Comet Schwassmann/Wachmann 3 (Fragment C) stapled together in a .GIF file for your amusement. Each picture taken with an Orion Starshoot ccd camera on an 8" Newtonian Telescope on April 28th at about 11.30 pm EDT. Each frame is 10seconds exposure, frame rate is 10fps so the whole sequence is effectively speeded up by 100x. Even so, you can see how fast this comet is moving. The doom/gloom merchants thought this comet was going to hit the earth. These pictures place it about 10x the distance of earth to moon. At its closest it will only be about 8x earth to moon distance. Close, but no need to go out to Home Depot for your comet impact survival kit.