CCD Comet Imaging
The following images of Comet 17/P (Holmes) were taken using a Starlight Xpress SXV-H9 CCD camera using a Skywatcher ED80 To increase the field of view, a Celestron F/6.3 focal reducer was used.
| 16th November 2007 |
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Sum of 46x20 second exposures, each guided on the comet. Processed in AstroArt 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. |
| 14th November 2007 |
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Sum of 30x30 second exposures, each guided on the comet. Processed in AstroArt 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. |
| 13th November 2007 |
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Sum of 50x20 seconds at 1x1 bin, each guided on the comet. Processed in AstroArt 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. |
| 8th November 2007 |
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Sum of 8x5 seconds at 2x2 bin each guided on the comet. Windy conditions. Processed in AstroArt 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. |
| 5th November 2007 |
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Sum of 36x120 seconds at 1x1 bin, each guided on the comet. Processed in AstroArt 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. |
| 3rd November 2007 |
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LRGB composite. Luminance: 8x300 seconds at 1x1 bin, RGB:15x30sec each at 2x2 bin. Processed in AstroArt 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. |
| 2nd November 2007 |
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Sum of 5x20 second exposures, each guided on the comet. Processed in AstroArt 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. |
The following images of Comet 2006 M4 (Swan) were taken using a Starlight Xpress SXV-H9 CCD camera using a Skywatcher ED80 To increase the field of view, a Celestron F/6.3 focal reducer was used.
| 1st November 2006, 20:14 to 20:43 UT |
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Sum of 15x120 second exposures, each guided on the comet. Processed in AstroArt 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. |
| 1st November 2006, 19:33 to 20:04 UT |
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Sum of 30x60 second exposures, each guided on the comet. Processed in AstroArt 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. |
| 1st November 2006, 18:57 to 19:28 UT |
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Sum of 30x60 second exposures, each guided on the comet. Processed in AstroArt 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. |
| 31st October 2006, 19:06 to 19:23 UT |
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Sum of 25x30 second exposures, each guided on the comet. Processed in AstroArt 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. |
The following images of Comet 2004 Q2 (Machholz) were taken using a Starlight Xpress MX5-C CCD camera at the cassegrain focus of my Celestron Ultima 9.25. To increase the field of view, a Meade F/3.3 focal reducer was used. An IDAS light pollution filter reduced the effects of sodium street lamp glow.
| 2nd January 2005, 20:22 to 21:01 UT |
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Sum of 15x30 second exposures, each guided on the comet. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch. Processed in AstroArt 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. Very windy conditions causing telescope vibration. |
| 26th December 2004, 19:23 to 20:33 UT |  |
Sum of 20x3 minute exposures, each guided on the comet. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch. Processed in AstroArt 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. Bright illumination from nearby full Moon. |
| 26th December 2004, 20:37 to 21:13 UT |  |
Sum of 15x2 minute exposures, each guided on the comet. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch. Processed in AstroArt 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS. Bright illumination from nearby full Moon. |
The following images of Comet 2001 Q4 (Neat) were taken using a Starlight Xpress MX5-C CCD camera at the cassegrain focus of my Celestron Ultima 9.25. To increase the field of view, a Meade F/3.3 focal reducer was used. An IDAS light pollution filter reduced the effects of sodium street lamp glow.
| 12th June 2004, 23:08 to 23:32 UT |  |
Sum of 16x1 minute exposures, each guided on the comet. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch. Processed in AstroArt 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop 7. |
| 29th May 2004, 22:38 to 23:01 UT |  |
Sum of 17x1 minute exposures, each guided on the comet. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch. Processed in AstroArt 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop 7. |
| 24th May 2004, 22:20 to 22:38 UT |  |
Sum of 12x1 minute exposures, each guided on the comet. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch. Processed in AstroArt 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop 7. |
| 22nd May 2004, 22:23 to 22:34 UT |  |
Sum of 9x1 minute exposures, each guided on the comet. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch. Processed in AstroArt 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop 7. |
| 19th May 2004, 21:43 to 21:58 UT |  |
Sum of 9x1 minute exposures, each guided on the comet. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch. Processed in AstroArt 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop 7. |
| 19th May 2004, 21:43 to 21:58 UT |  |
Same as image as above but with the Larson-Sekanina filter applied (DeltaR=-2.5, Alpha=10.0). This image shows kinks in the tail and some possible shells around the nucleaus. Processed in AstroArt 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop 7. |
| 15th May 2004, 22:15 to 22:25 UT |  |
Sum of 13x30 second exposures, each guided on the comet. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch. Processed in AstroArt 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop 7. |
| 14th May 2004, 22:22 to 23:00 UT |  |
Sum of 9x1 minute exposures, each guided on the comet. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch. Processed in AstroArt 3.0 and Adobe Photoshop 7. |
The following images of Comet 2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang) were taken using a Starlight Xpress MX5-C CCD camera at the cassegrain focus of my Celestron Ultima 9.25. To increase the field of view, a Meade F/3.3 focal reducer was used.
| 15th April 2002, 21:34 to 21:44 UT |  |
Mosaic of 4 individual 30 second exposures. Each frame had dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch and un-sharp mask were applied. |
| 12th April 2002, 20:41 UT |  |
30 seconds exposure. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch and un-sharp mask were applied. |
| 12th April 2002, 20:39 UT |  |
25 seconds exposure. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch and un-sharp mask were applied. |
| 12th April 2002, 20:31 UT |  |
20 seconds exposure. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch and un-sharp mask were applied. |
| 7th April 2002, 20:28 UT |  |
30 seconds exposure. Dark frame subtraction, non-linear stretch and un-sharp mask were applied. |
| 1st April 2002, 19:58 UT |  |
30 seconds exposure. Only a non-linear stretch was applied. |
