Guiding was on the
comet nucleus using an MX716 through a Celestron 80mm F5 refractor using
a 2x teleconverter to give a focal length of 800mm. The G11 mount was trained
to follow the comet using the Gemini comet tracking facility.
This is the best image I have produced of the comet so far. It is quite
low down in the West after twighlight and rapidly falls into an area of
light pollution. The atmospheric conditions have not been ideal with a
great deal of moisture in the air. Time is also a factor as the comet
falls below obstacles in my topography before a full set of LRGB images
can be obtained. I have tried doing RGB without luminance but the pollution
and moisture have made this difficult and the results are poor. A larger
stack produces better results but I then hit the time limt again. I will
endeavour to take a better image once the comet has climbed a little highr
and clears the tree blocking the view from my observatory. Again this
will not be ideal as the Moon will be in the sky and the comet is starting
to fade. The mosaic match was the best I could get without loosing what
little detail I had. The negative image shows up the structure a little
better. |