Comet NEOWISE in Vancouver

We have a surprise celestial visitor right now, comet NEOWISE (named after the observatory that discovered it: Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer). The comet’s visit is fleeting, it will be gone by the end of July and not return to earth for 6800 years!  If you want to catch a glimpse, find a dark area and look north just over the horizon after sunset.  It’s faint but visible to the naked eye, and easily viewable with binoculars.  Here are a few shots from West Vancouver taken on July 13th.

My first few shots were with my longest telephoto lens, a 500mm.  Not that easy to find and frame at this focal length but I did manage to get some shots of the comet with it’s long tail (click for larger).

A more expansive view, showing some of the landscape and what could be some aurora.  I think I even managed to catch a small meteor in the shot.

The comet with a passing ferry.

Wider still, with the big dipper and most of the little dipper in the frame.