Up Close & Personal with Comet 17/P Holmes

[RB]

The weather was perfect last night/early this morning, not a cloud in sight.
I was determined to try for a shot at the comet but was worried it would be too low from here at around 5 deg.

Got the scope setup but the moon was quite bright so I wasn't too sure how I'd go with the images.

It was an amazing sight although a bit dim in the viewfinder.

Processing it was a bit of a challenge as you can see, it's such a low object so atmospheric turbulence plays havoc with the light path.

This is a stack of 38 x 15 sec (9.5 min Total) exp, 800 ISO, Prime Focus 12" LX200, f/10.

Hope you enjoy.
Comments most welcome.

[xstream]

Well done Andrew! It reminds me so much of a Planetary Neb.

[Dennis]

Wow - 5°, now that is a LOW altitude! I’m astounded that atmospheric extinction did not obliterate the object. You have done a remarkable job in capturing and processing this diffuse object at such a low altitude. Well done Andrew!:thumbsup:

Cheers

Dennis

[tornado33]

Great shot there, nice big image scale.
Scott

[[1ponders]]

Nicely done Andrew :thumbsup:

Now will you stop hogging the fine weather and send it up this way for a day or so please. :)

[jjjnettie]

You well and truely nabbed it!
Excellent work, A+.

[fringe_dweller]

woah! :eyepop: thats sure is a fine close-up RB! amazing considering altitude of comet, thanks!

[h0ughy]

Nice work Andrew. it looks slightly over processed but I am sure that is totally due to the latitude of the object. Awesome work mate!!!

Hey Scott - that is what a f10 can do - we might have to get the 10" into operation

[davidpretorius]

no hope from tassie!!!

well done!

[leon]

That's a beauty Andrew, certainly is a different way of looking at Comets, I find it hard to understand really, without a tail, is it imaged head on or something like that.

leon

[acropolite]

Nice work RB, the atmospherics certainly take their toll, but the comet image itself is very well defined.

[beren]

:thumbsup:Top stuff RB

[Anto]

Good work Andrew. I think that you to set two things and then the image will be great:
1) White balancing: using a level layer in PS and then balancing the 3 channels looking at the color histo;
2) Just resize down: 50%-75% is a good interval, because the image scale is very high at f/10.

Regards, Antonello

[iceman]

Wow that's fantastic Andrew! Now I know where to go to get the north horizon.. when the sky clears!

[Tamtarn]

Fantastic image Andrew. :thumbsup:

We will be lucky to ever get to see it, the way we have been having constant cloud cover down here.

[RB]

Thanks everyone I appreciate your feedback and hope everyone has a chance to see it, David_P if you happen to be in the area you're welcome to drop in for a visit mate.





As you've mentioned it's very low at 5 deg above horizon so it was very difficult indeed. Houghy you're right the processing is heavy and I suppose using the 20Da certainly altered the colour response but it is reflecting sunlight and being so low did make it quite yellow I suppose.


Yes exactly Leon, we are looking directly head-on at the comet, but there have been reports it is developing a small tail.
Only time will tell I guess.



Antonello thank you so much for your advice, I always enjoy your work.
I've had another go at adjusting the levels and resized the image.
In the original I thought the histogram looked balanced but the image was quite orange/yellow and I assumed it was because the comet was so low and I used a 20Da to image it.
If you would like to have a play with my image you're very welcome, I'd love to see it.

Cheers everyone.

[tornado33]

Very nice.
Yes the comet is so bright an F10 scope works well
Scott

[fringe_dweller]

leon it would be an amazing comet that had a significant tail to our eyes when it is 2.5 au from the sun!!!! its the proximity to the sun that gives you the better tails - think of mcnaught ;) also it is 1.6 au or roughly around 230 million klms distant from us, so a tail isnt gonna poke ya in the eye from there :)

http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=41491