Gallery: Reader Photos: Ghostly Green Comet Approaches Earth
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At the beginning of October, we asked if any of you had captured images of the spooky green comet [Hartley 2](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/10/hartley-2-comet/). Here are some of your photos, but we want more! The comet is still headed for Earth, and on Oct. 20 will come within 11 million miles -- one of the closest comet approaches in centuries. The comet's ghostly glow should be visible with good binoculars or even the naked eye under dark skies. If you catch any great photos, add them to [this flickr stream](http://www.flickr.com/groups/1539253@N23/pool/with/5044206316/). __Above:__ Amateur astronomer [Ed Sunder](http://flintstonestargazing.com/) got up at 4:15 a.m. local time Oct. 2 to capture the comet from Flintstone, Georgia. *Image: flickr/[FlintsoneStargazer](http://www.flickr.com/photos/flintstonestargazer/5044270226/in/pool-1539253@N23/)*
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Another shot from Ed Sunder's Oct. 2 early-morning observing run. *Image: flickr/[FlintsoneStargazer](http://www.flickr.com/photos/flintstonestargazer/5044206316/in/pool-1539253@N23/)*
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This shot was taken Oct. 2 by astrophotographer [Ben Blish](http://fyngyrz.com/) in Glasgow, Montana. The image also captures star-forming nebula [NGC 281](http://spider.seds.org/ngc/ngc.cgi?ngc281) (pink box) and four of the five stars that make up the constellation [Cassiopeia](http://seds.org/Maps/Stars_en/Fig/cassiopeia.html) (blue boxes). *Image: flickr/[fyngyrz](http://www.flickr.com/photos/fyngyrz/5046011171/in/pool-1539253@N23/)*
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This composite image from Ben Blish shows how [stacking](http://edwinsetiawan.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/stacking-multiple-photos-for-night-photographs/) multiple images on top of each other can clean up noise and give clearer pictures. "My camera is very sensitive in the reds, because I had the infrared filter removed," Blish writes. "Consequently, any image I take is "red hot," as it were; hence the pink background of the original shots. I locate the darkest region on the image, and adjust the color curves so that pink turns black." *Image: flickr/[fyngyrz](http://www.flickr.com/photos/fyngyrz/5051506023/in/pool-1539253@N23/)*
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More from Ben Blish, with NGC 281 making an appearance in the upper left. Blish uses a fixed tripod, rather than a tripod that automatically tracks objects as they appear to move across the sky. He notes that while the quality of the images is lower, he can still capture very faint objects with less expense and setup time. *Image: flickr/[fyngyrz](http://www.flickr.com/photos/fyngyrz/5047837749/in/pool-1539253@N23)*
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Ed Sunder's most recent shot of Hartley 2, from Oct. 9. *Image: flickr/[FlintsoneStargazer](http://www.flickr.com/photos/flintstonestargazer/5066011793/in/pool-1539253@N23)*
