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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!genrad!teddy!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!cmcl2!lanl!jlg
From: jlg@lanl.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.rec.photo
Subject: Cometary telescopes
Message-ID: <19336@lanl.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 11-Jan-85 20:50:52 EST
Article-I.D.: lanl.19336
Posted: Fri Jan 11 20:50:52 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 14-Jan-85 02:55:54 EST
Sender: newsreader@lanl.ARPA
Distribution: net
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Lines: 13

For amateur viewing of comets, a rich field reflector (or better yet - a
Schmidt camera) should be used.  Comet tails tend to cover a fairly large
part of the sky and be very dim.  To photograph them well, you need low
magnifiaction and large light gathering ability.  Professional Cometary
research observatories use Schmidt cameras with VERY low f-numbers (1-1.4).

I sent a more detailed statement to the original poster of this question
to the net.  Maybe he will summarize further responses later.

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If the Earth were a grain of sand, we'd all be REALLY tiny! (*8

                                                James Giles