Comet Lulin and what else?

I'm almost completely a visual observer but I do like to take photos of things that won't be back, eclipses and comets. Tonight while working on Comet Lulin I found this interloper in one of my frames. AP 130 f/8.35 refractor, AP 900 mount, Canon Eos Rebel, 30 second exposure. Is this a satellite that rotated into a reflecting position during my exposure? What does it mean that the stars that I smeared by touching the shutter button are in the same general shape as the object?

Cheers

Robert Howe

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Robert Howe said:

...Is this a satellite that rotated into a reflecting position during my exposure?

To me it looks like either a light fixture or a UFO.

What does it mean that the stars that I smeared by touching the shutter button are in the same general shape as the object?

I don't think they are smeared stars from your handling the camera because they mirror the shape of the brightest parts of the mystery object. They look more like two different types of internal reflections coming from inside the scope/camera. The group of faint images encircling the main image appear to be caused by some type of coaxial reflection, possibly from light baffles, the inside of the focuser draw tube or camera throat. The fuzzy greenish image in the lower left quadrant is a different type of reflection; the giveaway being that it's in the exact opposite position as the bright image in the upper right. My guess is that the bright primary image is bouncing off the camera's CCD sensor and being projected onto a glass surface of a scope element, the greenish tinge caused by lens coating.

Those are my guesses anyway.

Could it be a substantially overexposed Saturn? The comet was near--although I do not think that near.

If you were to really stretch the comet, you would probably see the same blurring. However, since the comet is "blurry" in the first place, it would be hard to notice.

Alex

I think you caught one of those turtles that hold the whole universe up ;-)

Honestly what ever it was was there for the duration of your exposure because the same pattern is found on the surrounding stars and the coma of the comet. It looks like a bright star to me. Martin

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