Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon - 18/1/2013 (Processed stack into a video sequence)
Imaged at Perth Observatory, Bickley SVN area 32 00' 27'S 116 08' 12" E C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) is a long-period comet discovered in Leo on 23 March 2012, by A. R. Gibbs. Created in Windows Movie Maker from 9 RAW Canon 40D images ISO 800 120 Sec,0 DARK, 0 BIAS, 0 FLATS. Music 'Silent Running' performed by Mike and the Mechanics Telescope - Bintel BT200 f/4.0 Newtonian (borrowed from Stephen Boyd) with Baader MPCC Coma Corrector, Hutech LPS-P2 filter, Canon 40D DSLR field 64' x 95', Ambient 17-16C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount countrol. Backyard EOS 2.09 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress Superstar (mono) CCD guide camera and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software
Comet/Hergenrother 168P - 8/10/2012 (Processed stack into a video sequence)
168P/Hergenrother is a periodic comet in the solar system with an orbital period of ~7 years. Discovered in 1998, it returned in 2005 and 2012 for this image sequence. The comet came to perihelion (closest solar approach in its orbit) on 1 October 2012 and was expected to be very faint but due to a fragmentation outburst the comet brightened ~500 times and reached the relatively bright apparent magnitude of 8 (The faintest stars in a dark sky are ~6). Created in Windows Movie Maker from 22 DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 calibrated Images ISO 800 180 Sec,56 DARK @ 120sec, 53 BIAS, 0 FLATS. Music 'Here, There and Everywhere' performed by John Etheridge Telescope - Bintel BT200 f/4.0 Newtonian (borrowed from Stephen Boyd) with Televue 2X 2" PowerMate, Hutech LPS-P2 filter, Canon 40D DSLR field 32' x 48', Ambient 13C. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider
Comet 103P/Hartley 2 near M46 & M47 - 3/12/2010 (Processed stack)
Star points created with electrical tape X in front of objective lens DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 80% of 9 Images ISO 800 180 Sec, 10 DARK, 10 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by Photoshop CS5 See shot of this group 5 nights earlier on 28/11/2010 to see comet movement. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA T-Adapter, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC (not recorded). Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Comet McNaught 19th January 2007
Taken from the roof of the house, low in the south west at dusk Canon S3IS 6-72mm (36-432 35mm Equivalent) Compact Digital Camera near maximum zoom 52mm (312mm equiv). 6 Sec @ f/3.5.
Comet 103P/Hartley 2 - 28/11/2010 (Re-processed and Cropped Stack)
I revisited this stack of images in early 2012 and reprocessed it with the benefit of a bit more post-processing experience DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 80% of 8 Images ISO 800 120 Sec, 5 DARK, 5 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post processed by Adobe Photoshop CS5 A cropping of a wider field containing M47 and M46 (see separate uncropped image). Skyglow showing in background. No tail but Coma more evident in this image. Reprocessed with less brightening and stretching to preserve the darker sky background. Also see original processed image. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA T-Adapter, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC (not recorded). Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard - Christmas Eve - Christmas Eve 24/12/2021 (Processed Cropped Stack)
Whilst traveling more slowly after closest approach to Earth earlier in the week, this 30 min stack tracking the background stars, shows the head of the comet moving in that time. Low in the west in suburban skyglow make processing challenging, especially of the background sky. DeepSkyStacker 4.2.6 Stacked (55) of 55 Images Gain 100 @ 10 Sec, 35 DARK Gain 100 @ 60 Sec, 35 BIAS Gain 100 @ 1/1000 Sec, 19 FLATS GAIN 100 @ 1/1429 Sec, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2022 Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with Baader MPCC Coma Corrector (at 55mm backfocus) for F=800mm f/4.0, IDAS LPS-P2 filter, QHY 268C CMOS camera field 68' x 101' , Ambient ~25C, Camera 0C. Astroberry on RP-4B with Kstars/Ekos for EQMOD mount control, auto-focusing, plate solving and image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Ekos auto guiding software.
Comet Lovejoy - 25/12/2012 (Processed single image)
First sighting of this comet from my back yard, along with a troublesome street light. Post processed by Adobe Photoshop PS5 Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~18C, No filter, Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 22mm f/5.6 on Skywatcher NEQ6 mount with sidereal tracking, no guiding.
Imaged at a Dark Sky site near Wagin This 'Standard mode' cropped stack shows the comet movement more clearly. An uncropped version shows the full image field. Also see two other variants that use 'Comet Mode' stacking to track the comet and 'Comet + Star Mode' that is a hybrid of both. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 100% of 3 Images in 'Standard Mode', ISO 800, 300 Sec, 16 DARK, 37 BIAS, 37 FLATS, post processed by Adobe Photshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA Field Flattener, NO filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient 5C. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Comet McNaught 19th January 2007 with Crescent Moon and Venus.
Taken from the roof of the house, low in the south west at dusk Canon S3IS 6-72mm (36-432 35mm Equivalent) Compact Digital Camera near its maximum wide angle 10mm (60mm equiv). 1/2 Sec @ f/3.2.
Images at a Dark Sky site near Wagin This 'Comet mode' cropped stack shows the comet more clearly but trails the stars. Also see two other variants that use 'Standadrd Mode' stacking to track the stars and let the comet trail and 'Comet + Star Mode' that is a hybrid of both. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 100% of 3 Images in 'Comet Mode', ISO 800, 300 Sec, 16 DARK, 37 BIAS, 37 FLATS, post processed by Adobe Photshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA Field Flattener, NO filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient 5C. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Autoguider
Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard - Christmas Eve 24/12/2021 (Processed Stack)
Whilst traveling more slowly after closest approach to Earth earlier in the week, this 30 min stack tracking the background stars, shows the head of the comet moving in that time. Low in the west in suburban skyglow make processing challenging, especially of the background sky. DeepSkyStacker 4.2.6 Stacked (55) of 55 Images Gain 100 @ 10 Sec, 35 DARK Gain 100 @ 60 Sec, 35 BIAS Gain 100 @ 1/1000 Sec, 19 FLATS GAIN 100 @ 1/1429 Sec, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2022 Telescope - PowerNewt 200mm f/4 with Baader MPCC Coma Corrector (at 55mm backfocus) for F=800mm f/4.0, IDAS LPS-P2 filter, QHY 268C CMOS camera field 68' x 101' , Ambient ~25C, Camera 0C. Astroberry on RP-4B with Kstars/Ekos for EQMOD mount control, auto-focusing, plate solving and image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Ekos auto guiding software.
Comet Lovejoy below the Southern Cross - 26/12/2011 (Processed image)
Single image ISO800 120 sec at f/5.6. Post processed by Adobe Photoshop PS5 Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~18C, No filter, Canon 18-55mm f2.5-5.6 lens at 18mm f/5.6 on Skywatcher NEQ6 mount with sidereal tracking, no guiding.
Imaged at a Dark Sky site near Wagin This 'Standard mode' stack shows the full image field and comet movement. A cropped version shows this better. Also see two other variants that use 'Comet Mode' stacking to track the comet and 'Comet + Star Mode' that is a hybrid of both. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 100% of 3 Images in 'Standard Mode', ISO 800, 300 Sec, 16 DARK, 37 BIAS, 37 FLATS, post processed by Adobe Photshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA Field Flattener, NO filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient 5C. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Comet 103P/Hartley 2 near M46 & M47 - 28/11/2010 (Processed Stack)
DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 80% of 8 Images ISO 800 120 Sec, 5 DARK, 5 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by GIMP 2.6 M47 at top right of centre, M46 at bottom right of centre and Comet Hartley 2 in the centre. Processing has brightened the stars and skyglow background at little too much. Also see reprocessed image. Also see shot of this group 5 nights later on 3/12/2010 to see comet movement. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA T-Adapter, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC (not recorded). Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Images at a Dark Sky site near Wagin DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 100% of 3 Images in 'Comet + Star Mode', ISO 800, 300 Sec, 16 DARK, 37 BIAS, 37 FLATS, post processed by Adobe Photshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA Field Flattener, NO filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient 5C. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard- 29/12/2021 (Processed cropped stack)
Low in the west with some intermittent high thin cloud. DeepSkyStacker 4.2.6 Stacked (31) of 36 Images ISO 1600 @ 30 Sec, 19 DARK @ 120 Sec, 19 BIAS, 29 FLATS, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2022 Pentax SMC Takumar 200mm f/4, 37mm stop ring to f/5.4, M42/EOS adapter, Hoya UV filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 381' x 254' , Ambient ~28C. Astroberry on RP-4B with Kstars/Ekos for EQMOD mount control, auto-focusing, plate solving and image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Ekos auto guiding software.
Comet Lovejoy - with clouds! - 27/12/2011 (Processed image)
Single image ISO800 60 sec at f/5.6. Post processed by Adobe Phtoshop CS5 Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~19C, No filter, Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 18mm f/5.6 on Skywatcher NEQ6 mount with sidereal tracking, no guiding.
Comet Bradfield 1979L January? 1980
12.5" f/7.5 Calver Newtonian telescope with Olympus OM10 35mm film SLR at prime focus. 600 Sec exposure. Comet trails in this time. Kodak Ektachrome 400 Tranparencies. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 16/10/2011. Post processed by Adobe Photoshop CS5
Comet 103P/Hartley 2 - 28/11/2010 (Processed and Cropped Stack)
DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 80% of 8 Images ISO 800 120 Sec, 5 DARK, 5 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by GIMP 2.6 A cropping of a wider field containing M47 and M46 (see separate uncropped image). Skyglow showing in background. No tail but Coma more evident in this image. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA T-Adapter, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC (not recorded). Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon - 18/1/2013 (Processed stack)
Imaged at Perth Observatory, Bickley SVN area 32 00' 27'S 116 08' 12" E DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked (Standard mode - so the comet trails), 100% of 12 Images ISO 800 120 Sec, 65 DARK, 75 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CS5 Telescope - Bintel BT200 f/4.0 Newtonian (borrowed from Stephen Boyd) with Baader MPCC Coma Corrector, Hutech LPS-P2 filter, Canon 40D DSLR field 64' x 95', Ambient 17-16C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount countrol. Backyard EOS 2.09 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress Superstar (mono) CCD guide camera and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard - 29/12/2021 (Processed stack)
Low in the west with some intermittent high thin cloud. DeepSkyStacker 4.2.6 Stacked (31) of 36 Images ISO 1600 @ 30 Sec, 19 DARK @ 120 Sec, 19 BIAS, 29 FLATS, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2022 Pentax SMC Takumar 200mm f/4, 37mm stop ring to f/5.4, M42/EOS adapter, Hoya UV filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 381' x 254' , Ambient ~28C. Astroberry on RP-4B with Kstars/Ekos for EQMOD mount control, auto-focusing, plate solving and image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Ekos auto guiding software.
Comet 103P Hartley 2 - 3/12/2010
A cropping of a wider field containing M47 and M46 (see separate uncropped image). Skyglow showing in background. No tail but Coma more evident in this image.Being near the edge of the field of the original image and having no field flattener, stars to the right in particular are elongated, and not helped with the diffraction caused by the X tape. Star points created with electrical tape X in front of objective lens DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 80% of 9 Images ISO 800 180 Sec, 10 DARK, 10 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by Photoshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA T-Adapter, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC (not recorded). Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
Comet McNaught 17th January 2007
Taken from the roof of the house, low in the south west at dusk. Canon S3IS 6-72mm (36-432 35mm Equivalent) Compact Digital Camera near maximum zoom. 2sec @ f7.1 at 72mm (432mm equiv).
Comet 103P/Hartley 2 near M46 & M47 - 28/11/2010 (Re-processed Stack)
I revisited this stack of images in early 2012 and reprocessed it with the benefit of a bit more post-processing experience DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 80% of 8 Images ISO 800 120 Sec, 5 DARK, 5 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post processed by Adobe Photoshop CS5 M47 at top right of centre, M46 at bottom right of centre and Comet Hartley 2 in the centre. Reprocessed with less brightening and stretching to preserve the darker sky background. Also see original processed image. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA T-Adapter, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC (not recorded). Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider.
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