Comet Pons/Brooks
in the evening sky
3/29/24

 

            
 Now at 5th
            magnitude, the comet is getting difficult to image as it is only
            15 degrees up at dark in the western sky after sunset. It is
            also on the edge of the zodiacal light making it quite a challenge
            to image. For this shot, I set up at the entrance road at the
            Payson land fill, which has the best western sky for seeing low
            on the horizon. The camera frosted up and I lost at least half
            my shots but the final 8 were fine. This was a set of 8 images
            each 1 minute exposure with a field size of just a shade over
            2 degrees wide.

            
Needless to say,
            the next day I baked the dessicant!

            
Select an image size for a larger view:

1400 x 1200
            


Lens:  8 f/2 RASA Schmidt
Platform:  Ioptron GEM45
Cam: ASI071mc
Exposure:  8 mins
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  4/10, Transparency 7/10
Outside Temperature:  35F
Processing Tools:  Maxim DL, Photoshop CS2
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