Physics department student Batuhan Dereli viewed the comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, which completes its orbit every 71 years and is larger than Mount Everest, with the telescope he installed in Bandırma district of Balıkesir. The next visit of the star, called the Devil’s Comet due to its horn-like appearance, is expected to be in 2095.
DHA
Published: 11:08 – 09 April 2024 Updated: 11:38 – 09 April 2024
Batuhan Dereli, a senior student at METU Department of Physics, used the telescope he built in Gönen district of Balıkesir to see Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, which completes its orbit every 71 years on March 18 and is larger than Mount Everest, which is 8 thousand 849 meters high, the highest peak in the world. viewed the star.
12P/Pons-Brooks, a Halley-type comet nicknamed Devil’s Comet for its horn-like appearance, last visited the Inner Solar System in 1954.
The next visit of 12P/Pons-Brooks, which can be seen once or twice in a person’s lifetime, is expected to be in 2095.
The giant comet, which consists of dust and ice and has a tail of bright green light behind it due to heating by the sun, was discovered by Jean-Louis Pons in 1812 and William Robert Brook in 1883, and was named 12P/Pons-Brooks from these two.
“I TOOK THE FIRST PHOTO OF THE MOON”
Stating that he was interested in astronomy in his childhood, Batuhan Dereli stated that he had the opportunity to observe space with the first telescope his aunt, who lived in America, bought for him, and explained the process that enabled him to become an astrophotographer with the following words:
“The year 2009 was called the World Year of Astronomy. In those years, I had a small telescope gifted to me by my aunt and uncle who lived in America. When I turned it to the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn, and different planets, I saw thousands of times different from what I saw with the naked eye.” “I had to photograph what I saw because the people whose photographs I saw in magazines were able to photograph it. I took the first Moon photograph with a small digital camera. Then I took a video of Jupiter, and that’s where the excitement began.”
“I founded an astrology society in high school, and I chose the physics department at university because of my interest in astrology. When the pandemic started in 2019, we were confined to home, but at that time I took the first step of switching to higher telescopes. Now I could follow the stars and photograph the nebulae and galaxies between them. I did this with incredible excitement. “I don’t lose this feeling and I don’t want to lose it. Because it keeps me alive.”
Dereli, who also photographed the Green Comet in 2023, said, “In February 2023, I caught a comet that could be observed once every 50 thousand years, or more accurately, when the calculations were made, it passed near the Earth every 50 thousand years. Since the weather was overcast in Gönen, many kilometers away “We went to Dikili district of Izmir and made observations there with my wife in cold weather. It is an honor for both of us to be able to do this,” he said.
“MANY PEOPLE IN TURKEY ARE TRYING TO DRAW THIS”
Batuhan Dereli, who excitedly described the moments when he captured the Devil’s Comet, which completed its orbit in 71 years, said, “Currently, all amateur astrophotographers have turned their telescopes and cameras to the western horizon. Many people in Turkey are trying to shoot it. In fact, it has been known that it has been approaching for 3 months. It is called the Devil’s Comet.” “The explosions inside are seen in the form of devil horns. The fact that it is like this does not mean that we can see it with the naked eye. You need binoculars or a telescope. But if you have any camera, fix it and take a 30-second exposure from the western horizon,” he said.
Emphasizing that he tried 5 times to image the giant comet and was successful in his 6th attempt, Dereli said, “Think about your age, your experiences, everything. I was able to capture this comet that came close to you from one end of the galaxy, shining and perhaps carrying a piece of the source of life. This is for me.” It is a proud process, I will proudly tell it to my children. It is a very exciting process, because you are racing against time, the sun is about to set and the clouds are visible in pieces. The sky should be clean among these fragmented clouds. There should be no environmental pollution, you need to avoid light pollution. “When you calculate everything mathematically, you only have 1 hour. In fact, since the last half hour of that 1 hour coincides with the brightening of the horizon, you have 30 minutes,” he said.
2024-04-09 08:08:00
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