Awesome in the Outback: Comet shimmers over Australian swamp as it blazes a trail through night sky




This is the out-of-this world photograph of the beauty of an amazing comet streaking across the cosmos.

Caught on camera over a swamp in Australia the stunning image shows the trail of the Comet Lovejoy as it passed close to Earth.

Lying in wait in the darkness in Poocher Swamp Game Reserve near Adelaide, was photographer Wayne England who took this amazing snap.

Out-of-this world beauty: An amazing comet streaks over a swamp in South Australia. It was captured by photographer Wayne England who was lying in wait

As his picture shows the darkness of the swamp and the reflection of the water made the perfect backdrop to reflect the comet zooming across the sky.

Mr England, 40, who is a member of the Astronomical Society of South Australia, said he first heard about the comet travelling close to Earth in December and had several nights to try and catch a glimpse at 4am in the morning on Christmas Eve.



He said: ‘Each night I travelled 6miles out of the town to my favourite site, Poocher Swamp Game Reserve because of the dark sky, water and reflections of the stars in them water.

Steak of light: Comet Lovejoy blazes a trail and manages to compete with a sky full of stars

‘The comet looked amazing when I first saw it on the morning of Christmas Eve. It was so bright and large in the pre-dawn sky.

‘It had two tails, one curving slightly away from the other at the top. It was like a beacon or a laser shooting up into the sky.

‘I'm so glad I saw it when it was so bright and on subsequent nights because it faded fast over several days.

‘This was of course the best time to take photos of it and because it was moving relatively fast - you could see the amount it had moved each night.’

Wayne used a Nikon D7000 with a Tokina 12-24mm lens with settings of ISO 3200 or 6400, 20-30secs exposure at f/4.



Colour: A full range of hues can be seen across the bright night sky as the comet passes close to Earth

He said: ‘I like the wide angle this lens produces and with it I often try to get reflections of the stars in the water, which to create a good effect can only be done with wider angle lenses.

‘The comet was initially visible just before sunrise but by the New Year it was visible from about 1am but had faded considerably.