Crazy Comet
To the local rancher it might just be a random spot on the dirt road they drive everyday. But to me it was a place I had scouted out in advance after studying topo maps, to find the best north-facing view of the Crazy Mountains. Located in Central Montana, the Crazies are always an eye-catching sight. As the highest and most prominent of the state’s many island mountain ranges, it’s jagged peaks rise straight up out of the prairie and pierce the sky. The Crazies are sacred to the local Crow Tribe, and considered ominous and unpredictable. Somewhere up there is an old tripod of mine that mysteriously vanished one night. After a fiery sunset, the clouds cleared and Comet NEOWISE soon appeared. Before it rapidly faded, mid-July was the best time to view the comet. With no interference from moonlight, the enormous dual tails of NEOWISE were visible in all their glory. The blue ion tail consists of gases ionized by UV light and influenced by the magnetic field of the solar wind to point in a straight line. The white dust tail on the other hand, consists of neutral dust particles that are more widely dispersed.
- Copyright
- Kevin Palmer
- Image Size
- 6016x4680 / 14.1MB
- Keywords
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2020, C/2020 F3 NEOWISE, Crazy Mountains, July, Montana, NEOWISE, Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-D, Springdale, airglow, astronomy, astrophotography, clear, comet, dark, dust tail, evening, hills, ion tail, ioptron skytracker, island range, kevin palmer, night, nikon d750, north, rare, sky, space, starry, stars, summer, tracked
- Contained in galleries
- Recent Work, Deepscapes, Montana, Night Sky, Comets