| In the summer of 1995, an unusually large comet was discovered independently by both Alan Hale in New Mexico and Thomas Bopp in Arizona. By the Spring of 1997, it became one of the brightest comets to be seen this century. The best viewing period was late March to early April. The appearance of a bright comet such as Hale-Bopp is a rare event. Bright comets easily visible to the naked eye typically occur at a rate of about 4 or 5 per century. However, only a year before Hale-Bopp arrived, in the spring of 1996, we were fortunate enough to experience another brilliant but very different comet - Hyakutake. |
Comet Hale-Bopp & Queen Nefertiti Rock - Park Avenue Arches National Park Olympus OM 3Ti • OM 90mm f 2.0 35 seconds at f 2.0 • Fill light from 6V flashlight |
Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake were especially brilliant sights from areas free of light pollution such as the Southern Utah desert where both the yellow dust tail and blue ion gas tail of Hale-Bopp were easily visible. Arches National Park near Moab, Utah was a perfect location to observe these very special events. Recording these comets on film was challenging and exciting. My discussion begins with Hale-Bopp.
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| I began my quest to photograph Hale-Bopp with 5 pre-dawn trips to Arches National Park during a period when this was the best time to view the comet. When viewing became best after evening twilight, I made 5 more trips to Arches for night photos. |
| Capturing an image that shows both tails of the comet proved to be tricky. I wanted to use transparency film with reasonably fine grain and good color reproduction. This ruled out a 1600 speed slide film, so I went with Fuji Provia 400. After experimenting with exposures, I found that push-processing the film one stop to 800 gave a better exposure of the tails and still maintained the color and grain I wanted. I used three different Olympus lenses - a 35mm f2.0, a 50mm f1.4, and a 90mm f2.0. This was a perfect range of focal lengths to show the comet well while including elements of the landscape to add perspective to the incredible size of Comet Hale-Bopp. Wider angle lenses made the comet less significant and longer lenses made it difficult to include landscape and still get all of the comet in the frame. |
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Garden Of Eden Arches National Park Olympus OM 4T • OM 35mm f 2.0 |
 Comet Hale-Bopp & Turret Arch Windows Section Arches National Park Olympus OM4T • OM 50mm f 1.4 35 seconds at f 1.8 • Fill light from gas lantern |
Besides pleasing composition, the other major factor to determine was length of exposure. I needed the longest exposure possible to record both the dust tail and the ion tail without creating noticeable streaking of the stars or distortion of the comet head. During the pre-dawn sessions, the comet was mostly in the eastern sky, which limited my exposures with the 35 mm to about 35 seconds. I tried exposures of 15 to 25 seconds with the 50 and 90 mm lenses. Fortunately, the comet was located predominately in the northern sky during the evening sessions which allowed longer exposures (45 seconds with the 50 mm and 35 seconds with the 90 mm) with only minor streaking of the stars. After 6 or 8 rolls of film, I was able to determine the best exposure times for each focal length. Most exposures were made with the lenses set at their widest apertures. |
| During the pre-dawn sessions, the approaching twilight enabled the film to record detailed silhouettes of the fabulous rock formations in Arches National Park. Fading twilight during the night sessions also provided enough ambient light to add color to the sky and create silhouettes. I decided to try lighting the rock formations to give some detail and color in the rock, and these proved to be the most spectacular images. I used a gas lantern at The Garden Of Eden, placing it behind some rocks and bushes at the base of a 90-foot tall tower. I also used the lantern during an evening session at Turret Arch. At Queen Nefertiti Rock, I used a 6 volt flashlight with a krypton bulb (very bright beam) to illuminate this 600-foot tower and surrounding cliffs from several hundred yards away. I simply moved the light over the surface during the exposures, trying to cover the entire area evenly. This is not easy! |
| In January, 1996, Yuji Hyakutake of Japan discovered the bright comet that bears his name. He first spotted the comet with a pair of binoculars. From March through May, Hyakutake put on a spectacular display. Again, Arches National Park was a perfect location to view the comet without distracting light pollution. |
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Devils Garden Area Arches National Park Olympus OM4T • OM 21mm f 2.0 3.5 minutes at f 2.8 • Moon Light |
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Devils Garden Area Arches National Park Olympus OM1 • OM 24mm f 2.8 90 minutes at f 2.8 • Moon Light |
| The only regret I have about my comet photography experience is that I didn't try any exposures on print film. I have had the opportunity to view many fine photographs that were taken with Fuji 800 and 1600 and Kodak 1,000 print films. Hale-Bopp’s last visit was around 2,214 BC, 4,210 years ago when the great pyramids at Giza were only 4 centuries old. Hale-Bopp won't be back for 2,380 years from now, around AD 4,377. Hyakutake last came through the inner solar system about 8,000 years ago. It won't be back for 14,000 years. Hopefully, I'll have another opportunity during my lifetime to photograph some other spectacular comet. I consider myself very fortunate to have witnessed and photographed 2 Great Comets in only 2 years.
Dan Norris |
