WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 51FIND MORE IMAGES OF COMET ISON AT http://www.Astronomy.com/ISON.Comet ISON started to show some nice green color
in early October, especially through large amateur
instruments. This imager reported that, on the
date he took this picture, it was distinctly visible
through 8x50 binoculars. (12.5-inch homemade
Newtonian reflector at f/5, SBIG ST-10XME CCD
camera, 75 minutes total exposure, taken October
4, 2013, from Payson, Arizona) CHRIS SCHURComet ISON floated on the border between the
constellations Leo the Lion and Cancer the Crab
when the photographer captured this image of
it. (17-inch PlaneWave Instruments corrected
Dall-Kirkham reflector, FLI PL6303e CCD camera,
LRGB image with exposures of 15, 2, 2, and 2
minutes, respectively, taken September 24, 2013,
at 11h36m UT) DAMIAN PEACH
The green coma that Comet ISON displayed on this
date reminded the photographer of Comet 103P/
Hartley back in 2010. Here, ISON stands approxi-
mately 1° from Mars. (6-inch Explore Scientific
152mm David H. Levy Comet Hunter at f/4.8, Canon
XSi DSLR, ISO 800, twenty-three 1-minute expo-
sures, taken October 16, 2013, between 4:50 A.M.
and 5:30 A.M. PDT from Julian, California) CHUCK KIMBALLBig scopes collect lots of light, so it’s no surprise that a 32-inch Ritchey-Chrétien reflector — especially one at an altitude of 9,157 feet (2,791 meters) — would
make ISON look great. (32-inch RC Optical Systems Schulman Telescope, SBIG STX-16803 CCD camera, RGB image with exposures of 18, 18, and 16 minutes,
respectively, taken October 8, 2013) ADAM BLOCK/MOUNT LEMMON SKYCENTER/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA