Uploaded January 2015 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
As Comet Lovejoy made its exit pass by the Earth, the skies around Santa Clarita finally cleared enough to attempt a few shots of this interesting green comet.
On the night of January 16, 2015, the comet was a bit southwest of the Pleiades star cluster, but was not visible to the naked eye due to lots of city light pollution. However, using a Canon 5D with a 20mm f/1.8 prime lens, I took a long exposure wide-angle shot of the southern sky, then played it back on the camera's screen. It didn't take long to locate the only bright green spot in the sky!
I shot a wide-angle timelapse of the southern sky using a tripod-mounted GoPro Hero4 (30sec exposures at ISO400) which is shown in the first scene ( 0:07 ). I also did additional wide angle views using the Canon 5D Mk2 with a 20mm f/1.8 prime lens, which is shown in the following three scenes. ( 0:17 , 0:25 , 0:34 ) After that I attached the 5D to a Celestron 800mm refracting telescope and filmed a number of short sequences much closer (scenes 5, 6, and 7). In these three scenes beginning at 0:42 , the sky passes rapidly, and if you look carefully from one scene to the next, you can see the comet's movement in relation to the star just to its right.
The set is finished-out with a zoomed still of the comet - in as high of a resolution as my consumer-grade optics would allow, followed by one last 800mm telescopic timelapse.
Contains JCMDI video catalog #s: V16907,V16908a,V16908b,V16908c,V16910,V16911,V16912,V16909,
The soundtrack is "The Voice" from the "Digital Dreaming" CD by Technician (yours truly), album and single track available on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/album/digital-dreaming/id416815761 full artist discography and CDs available at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com
Note: The audio and video material contained herein is copyright 2015 JCM Digital Imaging, however, you may download this footage directly from YouTube and use it free of charge in your own non-profit/non-commercial YouTube videos, school projects, etc. The full free usage policy and YouTube copyright notice/ad info can be found here (please read before using JCMDI material): jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#freeusage jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#partner
As Comet Lovejoy made its exit pass by the Earth, the skies around Santa Clarita finally cleared enough to attempt a few shots of this interesting green comet.
On the night of January 16, 2015, the comet was a bit southwest of the Pleiades star cluster, but was not visible to the naked eye due to lots of city light pollution. However, using a Canon 5D with a 20mm f/1.8 prime lens, I took a long exposure wide-angle shot of the southern sky, then played it back on the camera's screen. It didn't take long to locate the only bright green spot in the sky!
I shot a wide-angle timelapse of the southern sky using a tripod-mounted GoPro Hero4 (30sec exposures at ISO400) which is shown in the first scene ( 0:07 ). I also did additional wide angle views using the Canon 5D Mk2 with a 20mm f/1.8 prime lens, which is shown in the following three scenes. ( 0:17 , 0:25 , 0:34 ) After that I attached the 5D to a Celestron 800mm refracting telescope and filmed a number of short sequences much closer (scenes 5, 6, and 7). In these three scenes beginning at 0:42 , the sky passes rapidly, and if you look carefully from one scene to the next, you can see the comet's movement in relation to the star just to its right.
The set is finished-out with a zoomed still of the comet - in as high of a resolution as my consumer-grade optics would allow, followed by one last 800mm telescopic timelapse.
Contains JCMDI video catalog #s: V16907,V16908a,V16908b,V16908c,V16910,V16911,V16912,V16909,
The soundtrack is "The Voice" from the "Digital Dreaming" CD by Technician (yours truly), album and single track available on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/album/digital-dreaming/id416815761 full artist discography and CDs available at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com
Note: The audio and video material contained herein is copyright 2015 JCM Digital Imaging, however, you may download this footage directly from YouTube and use it free of charge in your own non-profit/non-commercial YouTube videos, school projects, etc. The full free usage policy and YouTube copyright notice/ad info can be found here (please read before using JCMDI material): jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#freeusage jcmdi.com/stockfootage/faq.html#partner
