The K6XX Comet Page
Comet Hyakutake was the best comet I had ever watched. I followed it for several weeks last year, taking hundreds of photographs. This one is a 15 minute exposure using a 135mm lens at f/2.8. The camera was mounted on a motor driven equatorial mount. My shots using slide film came out better, but I don't have the proper hardware to scan them for this page.
But that was then! Now, I have seen a REAL comet! Hale-Bopp is extraordinary--here is a quick 2 minute exposure on a fixed tripod taken just before dawn. The camera was only using a 50mm f/1.4 lens, and the film is cheap house-branded 400ASA print film (probably AGFA). With decent film and a proper tracking mount, I imagine my results would be MUCH better. The color in the tails are not artifacts: I could also see them visually. The aluminum on the right is my little rotatable dipole for 40/20/17/15/12/and 10m (the driven element from a Mosley PRO-67B). Illumination is enhanced by my neighbors (all of them) having automatic lighting.
While Hale-Bopp is a bit lower in the sky, the sun was further below the horizon during this exposure.