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This is one of
the rarest comets of all, one which came not from the Oort cloud
which surrounds our solar system, but from a distant star much
nearer to the galactic core. Currently 17th magnitude in the
rich star fields of Sagittarius, it is very difficult to find
and image. Using the latest orbital elements and creating a star
map to find it I imaged it as it passed the well known star cluster
M23 seen to the lower right of the field here - a bright and
scattered group. 5 minute sub frames were examined in Pix Insights
Blink function and we looked for a moving blip at the expected
position. And there is was - very faint but unmistakably the
comet. It moved in the right direction and the correct amount
during our exposures.
To create the final
image, 15 minutes of luminance frames were stacked with comet
aligned and registered with the first image in the set to solidify
the shape. Added then was 15 minutes of RGB data to color the
stars and star clouds. Here, Ive made an enlarged inset to show
you how small this object is and allow you to see it more clearly.
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Scope: 10" f/3.9 Orion Astrograph Newtonian + Baader MPCC 2 coma corrector
Camera: Atik 16200 CCD
Platform: Astrophysics AP1200
Exposure: 30 mins LRGB
Location: Payson, Arizona
Elevation: 5150 ft.
Sky: Seeing 5/10, Transparency 6/10
Outside Temperature: 65F
Processing Tools: PI, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS2
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