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Comet 15P/Finlay Near Mars 2014-12-24
Comet 15P/Finlay was in outburst on 16 December brightening from magnitude 11 to magnitude 9. At present it is low in the Western sky after sunset. Unfortunately the moon is interfering at present. I took this 180 second luminance image after moonset on 24 December, 6 days after outburst.
15P/Finlay is just below Mars in this cropped frame. Its angular separation from Mars in this image is about 3'50".
In the next few days the moon moves away from 15P but the moon is brightening. I'm not sure which effect will dominate, but hope to image again waether permitting (not looking good for the next couple of days).
15P will be low in the Western sky through to February. It will still be about 16 degrees above the Western horizon on January 20's new moon, at my latitude (approximately -27.5S).
Tel
Imaged with the ED120, QHY9, L 180 bin 1.
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