Comet Garradd buzzes M15

[Ross G]

Hello,

Just had 4 great dark nights away at Coonabarabran.

I photographed a few objects. A nice bonus was finding Comet Garradd close to M15.

WO M110
QHY8L
HEQ5Pro.

Very basic processing with DSS and Photoshop. How do you process shots with moving comets in them?

Thanks for looking.

Ross.

[Paul Haese]

Nicely done Ross. It is always cool to image a comet near a galactic or extra galactic object. great capture.

[jase]

Awesome Ross! Love these celestial encounters. Well done. Thanks for sharing.

[multiweb]

Good stuff Ross! :thumbsup: You must be buggered after 4 nights of clear skies at coona. In astro currency that's worth 6 month of imaging in the burbs. ;) Was talking to Joe who spent a few long nights at Ilford and he too just wanna go to bed. :lol: You lucky so and so.

[astroron]

Just o0bserved the two objects in the 16' with a 55mm eyepiece.
Just got the two of them in:D
Love these close encounters ;)
Cheers :thumbsup:

[sjastro]

Very nice Ross.

Clear skies

Steven

[h0ughy]

nice work. at astrofest you could see where this was going to end in a few days when taking some images as it was passing Enif over three nights. well captured!

[Dennis]

Hi Ross

What a gorgeous image! The wider field with the comet and globular provides a stunning cosmic vista.

Cheers

Dennis

[Lester]

Very nice FOV Ross, the comet with slight tail is what many are hanging out for. Hope it grows. I prefer the comet images (as yours) where the stars are pinpoint, instead of where the stars are trailed and the comet fixed.

Thanks for the view.

[atalas]

Very very cool dude!

[strongmanmike]

Yeh what a great capture Ross:thumbsup:. I imagine a few people around the World would have grabbed this oportunity too?

Mike

[troypiggo]

Very nice capture! Gotta take the opportunity when it arises. :thumbsup:

[RickC]

super shot Ross

[jjjnettie]

Lovely!
Other close passes coming up
10 of august garrad passing ngc 7006 (globular cluster)
20th august ic4997 though this planetary will only show as a star.
27th august m71 and H20 (harvard 20 open cluster)

These are only approx. (I cross referenced from only 2 sources) so it would be worth while taking a look a day before or after as well.

[mithrandir]

Some more close approaches derived in CdC using the latest elements from MPC:

47' from NGC7042 Aug 7
43' from NGC7036 Aug 8
55' from NGC7006 Aug 10 as noted by jjj
76' from IC4997 Aug 20 as noted by jjj
14' from M71 Aug 27 as noted by jjj just before dawn
42' from NGC6802 Sep 2
passes though Cr399 Sep 3
35' from NGC6587 Sep 29 and about half a dozen other NGC objects over the following few days
10' from NGC6408 Oct 29 just after sunset

Then we lose it into daylight until April 2012.

Andrew

[LucasB]

Good stuff Ross! That is a great moment you have captured.
Very nice image to look at.:thumbsup:
Lucas

[Ross G]

Paul, Jase,Steven and Dennis,

Thanks for your kind comments. It's a simple and lucky photo but I am very happy with it.

Ross.

[Ross G]

Thanks Marc,

The trip was a huge success. Apart from some clouds on Sunday night that cleared by midnight, we had 4 beautiful, clear nights where we imaged from nightfall until nearlly 5am the next morning. It was cold and long, but good fun. You should have been there. You were missed.
I probably did more imaging in this trip then I did all last year!

See you.

Ross.

[Ross G]

Thanks Ron,

I bet the comet looked great "live" through your 16 inch scope.


Ross.

[Ross G]

Hi David,

Yes, I had read that the comet was moving in the general direction from Enif to M15.
The main aim of my trip to Coonabarabran was to image my favourite object, M31. As it was in the same area of sky I tried my luck on Monday and Tuesday nights in finding Comet Garradd.
This shot I have posted was from Tuesday night when it was closer to M15.

Thanks.

Ross.

[Ross G]

Thanks Lester,

My photo was 6 x 10min exposures that I stacked normally. There was definite movement of the comet between frames so I think this has given the comet's nucleus a "weird" look.
Today I tried using the "comet" mode in DeepSkyStacker. This automatically seperates the comet from the stars and then combines the two sharp images. This has produced a more natural looking round nucleus, however it still seems to have a "swallow" looking tail.


Ross.

[Ross G]

Louie, thanks for your advice and encouragement.

I am looking forward to seeing your comet photo with your monochrome camera.

Thanks.


Ross.

[arifmshaikh]

Very nice photo Ross.

[Ross G]

Mike, thanks for your kind comments.

Hopefully they did image it around the world.
However, the dark skies and clear visibility of Coonabarabran did gives a unique "world class" view.
We were very lucky.


Thanks.


Ross.

[Ross G]

Troy, I was very lucky.......the right place at the right time.


Thanks.


Ross.

[Ross G]

Thanks Richard,

I am glad you like. Your opinion means a lot.

BUT......where is my smiley face?


Ross.

[Ross G]

Thanks Jeanette,

I would love to try my luck with the objects you have listed.
However my "Going Away to Dark Sites" credits have been well and truly used up both at work and at home.
I am stuck in suburban Sydney for at least the next 2 months!

By the way, I really like all your photos from Astrofest.
You are rivalling Marc with the number of good photos you are producing.


Ross.

[Ross G]

Thanks Lucas,

Although it involved a lot of good luck and it is a simple photo, I am proud of it.


Ross.

[Ross G]

Thanks for all the data Andrew.

My only source of info was a table in Sky and Telescope.


Ross.

[Ross G]

Thanks Arif,

Hopefully we'll catch up at your next meeting.


Ross.

[Octane]

Beautiful. :)

H

[Ross G]

Thanks Humayun,


Ross.

[Alchemy]

Nice to see a comet, been a while since I saw a nice one go by, the glob gives it that added interest. Lovely shot.:thumbsup:

[Ross G]

Thanks Clive.

Yes, the last comet of interest I saw or photographed was Lulin a good two years ago.

Hopefully, this one will amount to something.


Ross.

[bokglob]

WOW Ross!:eyepop: I just noticed this post...absolutly beautiful! Great capture:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Ross G]

Thanks Darrell,

Glad you enjoyed it.


Ross.