Comet ISON in the 
Morning Sky
September 16, 2013

 

            
 Currently
            at mag 12.5, this brightening comet is on its way in to the inner
            solar system, for a very close encounter with the Sun on November
            25th. The maximum brightness is questionable at this time, some
            predict naked eye brightness, others around magnitude 8 which
            is probably more realistic until perihelion.

            
The comet is very
            low in the east right now, barely clearing the trees and east
            wall of the observatory in Payson. When I started this exposure,
            half the aperture was occulted by the wall. Sunrise was coming
            and we continued shooting until just past 5am, where the sky
            becomes too bright from twilight.



            
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Field of view is 1 degree wide here.

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mapped color to show tail details.

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Lens:  12.5" f/5 Home bult Newtonian
Platform:  Astrophysics AP1200 
Exposure:  25m
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  7/10, Transparency 7/10
Outside Temperature:  55F
Processing Tools:  Maxim DL, Photoshop CS2
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