Friday, July 24, 2020

Comet NEOWISE - Close up

On July 18, 2020, the skies were rather clear and I decided to return to my church's property with my portable telescope setup (William Optics GT-102 APO, iOptron iEQ30 mount, Canon 50D).

I wanted to get some longer exposure images of the comet with a close up on the head and so the GT102 seemed like a good bet.  I realized that I would not be getting a lot of the tail(s). 

After spending about a hour and a half, 212 images later, and lots of processing time at home, I did manage a fairly good close up of NEOWISE.  I am a little disappointed that the image showed very little color.  The green coma was visible, but the final image didn't show it.  The sky conditions were not good enough to capture the ion tail in it's full glory, but I was also disappointed in that I really couldn't pull enough detail out of it as well - also devoid of any color.  Not sure if this is due to processing issues, or sky conditions.  Anyway, here it is.

Comet NEOWISE - July 18, 2020 - ~10:08 PM
GT102 APO f/5.5  - Canon 50D - 10x60sec subs - ISO800


Once the comet gets a little higher in the sky I'll image it once again at home with both my 11" EdgeHD and a piggyback Canon with 100mm lens.  That is if the clouds go away!  Each day that goes by the comet is getting dimmer, and, there are some reports (still unverified) that the nucleus may be starting to disintegrate.  Let's hope not.

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