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∆ Halley's famous comet, pictured on its last return, in 1985-86.

Taking photographs You can take photographs of meteors and bright comets with most cameras. They must have a time setting. This will let you keep the camera shutter open for as long as you want. You will also need two other pieces of equipment, a tripod and a cable shutter release. The tripod helps hold the camera steady, while the cable release stops you jogging it when you open and close the shutter. If you use a film camera, choose a fast film, perhaps ISO 400.

To photograph a bright comet, point the camera at the comet and keep the shutter open for about a minute. If you keep it open for much longer, the stars in the picture will show up as little trails as they move.

Hit or miss Photographing

meteors is more hit and miss, especially with digital cameras,

because meteors can appear in any direction. The best thing to do is to point the camera to different parts of the sky in turn, keeping the shutter open for, say, an hour or so each time. When the film is developed, you may be lucky to find meteor streaks on it—or you may not! Nevertheless, you will have some nice star trails.

An astronomer photographing Comet Brooks in 1993 also captured a fiery meteor trail.

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