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Comet Encke circles the Sun every 3.3 years and is currently moving past Earth at a very rapid pace. Now only .25 AU from us, the comet is an unprecedented 8th magnitude, and just visible in binoculars. This image has a combined exposure time of six minutes, just before the comet went into the trees in the evening twilight. No obvious nucleus is seen, however it is there, on the right side of its asymmetrical fan shaped coma.

Instrument:  12.5" f/5 Home made Newtonian
Platform:  Astrophysics 1200 QMD
CCD Camera:  SBIG ST8i NABG with Enhanced Cooling
Guider: SBIG ST4
Exposure:  L = 6x1m
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing FWHM = 10 - 30 arcsec (Maxim DL - 1min subframe), Transparency 7/10
Outside Temperature:  0 C
CCD Temperature:  -20 C
Processing Tools:  Maxim DL, Photoshop, AIP4WIN, RW Debloomer.

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