Comet Bradfield Rising
			
		
		
			Credit & Copyright: 
Jimmy Westlake
(Colorado
Mountain College)
		
		
			Comet Bradfield 
has become quite a sight just before sunrise -- 
for those with binoculars or cameras.  
Although fading noticeably each day, a 
sky chart, a northern location, and some persistence 
will allow curious sky gazers to locate the 
cosmic snowball 
and its 
spectacular tail.  
One might call Bradfield a "camera" comet as its extended tail 
is too long for most telescopes but caught nicely by normal cameras 
capable of long exposures and set to 
rotate with the sky. 
Pictured above just yesterday, 
Comet C/2004 F4 (Bradfield) was caught as it rose on successive three-minute 
exposures above the 
Rocky Mountains near Yampa, 
Colorado, 
USA.  
Visible on the upper left as a bright fuzzy smudge is the 
Andromeda Galaxy (M31), 
far in the distance.  
Comet Bradfield was discovered only last month and was 
briefly visible to the unaided eye.  
It was imaged in 
spectacular fashion by the 
SOHO spacecraft as it 
rounded the Sun early last week.