Submitter's name:	Kelton Rhoads
Title:	Hale-Bopp: Arizona's View
Gear used:	Olympus OM1n with 1-8 screen and Zuiko 250mm f/2 on motorized German Equitorial Mount tripod.
Diaphragm:	f/2
Shutter speed:	3 minutes (B setting, using the hat-method)
Film used:	Fuji 800
Technical information:	Focus was aided by a home-made lens cap with two large holes. Guiding during exposure was done with a parallel mounted 400mm f/5 spotting scope, illuminated reticle eyepiece, and painful contortions on my part. Photoshop manipulation was limited to resizing and darkening the image (no contrast or color enhancements).
Subject information:	The blue ion trail streams away from the sun, while the yellowish dust trail streams away from the direction the comet is headed. Shortly after this photo was taken, I was streaming back to civilization for warmth and food. (If you put on your new Nike tennis shoes and believe real hard, you can see a space-ship in the tail of the comet. At least, the Heaven's Gate Cult thought so.)
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Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified)

A marvellous picture which is well worth being posted, even if it was taken and submitted out of the official guidelines. A truly great shot, and I hope someday I will be able to take something like this too!

Comment left by: siddiq (siddim01@student.ucr.edu)

yowza; good for Olafo for breakin' HIS rules and good for Kelton for saying he wanted to submit despite being outside the shooting window. hands down the best H-B shot I've EVER seen (and i've seen MANY). my hat's off (no pun intended ;)) to you for such a stellar (no pun intended ;)) shot. i know from painful experience just how hard it is to get a halfway decent astrophoto. D'you have webpage? thanks so much for sharing,

Comment left by: Alasdair Mackintosh (Alasdair.Mackintosh@eu.citrix.com)

An astonishing picture. The exposure is spot on, and the contrast between the blue ion tail and the yellow dust tail is shown to perfection. Magnificant.

Comment left by: Lex (lexjenkins@hotmail.com)

I'm not a huge fan of astrophotography, but this one transcends the genre. It holds its own as art. Nice work, Kelton, and thanks, Olaf, for bending the rules!

Comment left by: Rainer Wagner (rainer@pet.mpin-koeln.mpg.de)

Truly amazing picture ! I wonder if it is the full frame,since all the stars appear tack sharp and undistorted to the edge. If it is so indeed, I think you have about the best lens for astroimaging that I have seen up to now!

Comment left by: Gary Edwards (garyetx@home.com)

Flawless. Thank you for sharing it.

Comment left by: Tom A. Trottier (no e-mail specified)

Lovely!

Comment left by: Damon Wood (deewhy_au@yahoo.co.uk)

All I can say is that's definitely something special - see a publisher!!!!

Comment left by: Bryan Pilati (bpilati@yahoo.com)

Now THAT'S a photograph! Can I have one?

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