How to photograph or simply see Comet Neowise before it disappears for 6,800 years

CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio – In case you missed it, there is a fairly bright comet visible in the sky just after sunset for at least the next two weeks. Comet Neowise recently made its way around the sun and is heading back into space, and can be seen in the northwest sky.

The comet is best viewed with a telescope or binoculars. However, it is slightly possible to see it with the naked eye if you are in the right place (and have good eyes). It is expected to remain in view for a couple of weeks. But you’ll want to catch it before it disappears, because it won’t go back for about 6,800 years, scientists say.

On Monday night I was able to photograph the comet from Frohring Meadows just outside of Chagrin Falls. Here are some tips for photographing the comet.

1. Don’t bother trying to use your smartphone, you just won’t be very lucky.
2. Definitely go somewhere on a clear night where you have a clear view of the horizon. Any place along the lake shore would probably be ideal. Also, any place that has a large open field, such as Frohring Meadows, will also give you a good opportunity to photograph it.
3. Your best option is to use a DSLR camera. This will allow you to set your shutter speed, which should be in the range of 1-3 seconds and, if possible, have a telephoto lens available. There are some pretty good point-and-shoot cameras, so you can probably get one of them to work if you have some manual setups.
4. Because you are using a long shutter speed, you will need a tripod.

For my photos, I used two different cameras, but the same lens on both. The horizontal photo was taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III, and the vertical with a Canon EOS 7D. Both cameras were configured to shoot in RAW format with the highest resolution. White balance was adjusted in daylight and the ISO was 1250.

The shutter speed varied but ranged from 1-3 seconds. The lens was a Canon 400mm f2.8 with a 1.4x teleconverter attached, giving me the equivalent of a 560mm lens. Autofocus will not work, so you will have to manually focus the camera, trying to make the comet as sharp as possible in the viewfinder.