Comet Atlas G3 in broad daylight, Perhelion + 2 days
in the Morning sky
January 15, 10:15 am

 
 We
            are now in the 4th day in a row in which we can image this comet
            in broad daylight. Far superior to what I can get a few degrees
            up in the south west at sunset, these day light images show remarkable
            inner detail. Here, the tail is seen with an inner core and outer
            envelope in the tail. Brightness is about the same as yesterday.
            The comet was 8 degrees from the sun, and it slowly getting away
            from the glare and bad gradients so close to the suns influence.
            About mag -3 right now, it is expected to fade very rapidly so
            I dont know how much longer I can record it in the daytime. Last
            night I was able to find it easily in binoculars very low in
            the SW, about 6pm. It is very small when seen in such dense haze
            and fire smoke. For about 5 mins I was able to glimpse it naked
            eye however.

            

            
Select an image size for a larger view:

1600 x 1200
            


Scope:  10" f/3.9 Orion Astrograph Newtonian 
Camera: ASI083 CMOS - IR(rgb)
Platform:  Astrophysics AP1200
Exposure:  50ms
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  4/10, Transparency 9/10
Outside Temperature:  40F
Processing Tools:  Maxim DL, Photoshop CS2
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