Comet Encke
in the Morning sky
August 27, 2am

 
 This
            short period comet comes by every 3.3 years, and will be maxing
            out in brightness in a few months at around 8th magnitude. Here,
            it is 11th and was very faint indeed. Appearing as a short fan
            shaped object, with a teal colored coma, this comet still has
            some ice left in it. This 75 minute exposure with the 10 inch
            will be a good comparison for the appearance in a few months
            when it is larger and has more of a tail.

            
Select an image size for a larger view:

1600 x 1200
            


Scope:  10" f/3.9 Orion Astrograph Newtonian + Baader MPCC 4 coma corrector
Camera: Atik 16200 CCD
Platform:  Astrophysics AP1200
Exposure:  75 mins
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  7/10, Transparency 6/10
Outside Temperature:  62F
Processing Tools:  Maxim DL, Photoshop CS2
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