A very quick and dirty Comet C/2008 A1 McNaught - Update - A better shot

[[1ponders]]

Just caught it before it disappeared last night. A single 1 minute shot with a quick colour balance (very quick before heading off to work :P ) and curves and levels. ED80 and modded 20D, ISO800. (no darks or flats :ashamed: )

Hopefully I'll get setup a bit earlier and get a better run of shots before it sets

Very easy to find though.

[iceman]

Wow that's quite bright, nice work Ponders. Would've loved to get this one myself but don't think i'll get a chance before next new moon.

Where is it located?

[Liz]

Well done Paul, I found it with binoc the other night, though couldnt in my scope :(, and it hasnt shown up in my pics with camera on tripod.

[RB]

Cool !

Great shot Pondie, would love to check this one out.

:thumbsup:

[bojan]

It is currently in Centaurus...
My shot from Sept 3rd is attached (central crop from 10x30sec, 200mm F5.6 ISO1600, Canon400D)

[[1ponders]]

As Liz has posted Mike, right next door to Cent A.

[Rob_K]

Nice shot Paul! :thumbsup: Got a bit of tail action going there too...

Cheers -

[alan meehan]

nice dark sky nice shot of this comet well done

[h0ughy]

Wow Mr ponders what a fantastic shot (you can tell I have been a bit of sky deprived lately...)

[ving]

hmm cool find!

if i get the time and inclination i'll hunt it down.

[Ric]

A very nice capture Paul, I'll have to have a hunt for this one with the binoculars.

Cheers

[Matty P]

Excellent capture Paul!

It has come out very nicely. Well done. :thumbsup:

[acropolite]

Nice work Paul, must have a look for the beast. :thumbsup:

[[1ponders]]

Thanks everyone. It seems to have been quite a while since I posted anything (still have to go through the Duckadang images :rolleyes: )

Phil, under the moon I could hardly see it with 10X50s but with the ED80 it was definitely there.

Here's 15x180sec @ ISO800, dark subtracted but no flats (I see I need to get a box working for the ED80), ED80 and WO 0.8 FR and Modded 20D. It was a challenge to try to take the moon out of it and still leave some tail. I'm don't know if the blue halo around the head is actually there or whether I created it with my processing. It seems to be there in the Raw images but gets stronger and stronger the more I tried to balance and highlight.

[RB]

Another beautiful shot Paul, with nicely defined core/outer colours.

[iceman]

That's really nice, Paul!
Will it still be around when the moon is gone?

[AlexN]

Stunning shot Paul.. Very clear and well defined, also with the hint of the tail. Well done.

[[1ponders]]

I certainly hope so Mike. it's getting higher each night, but I think its moving away from the sun (or us) so it might start to get dimmer. I'm looking forward to getting some longer shots though.

[[1ponders]]

A bit more detail


http://www.3ap.org/sigs/sigAsteroidsComets.shtml

http://kometen.fg-vds.de/schwache.htm
http://spacsun.rice.edu/~has/5ObservingGuide/Comets/4CometCorner/0cometCorner.html

So its still heading for the sun, but looks like it will disappear for us in a couple of weeks.