Comet Garradd looking good!

[lukebl]

Hi all,

Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd seems to be strangely neglected right now.

It's still brightening at around mag. 6.5, and is quite high in the morning sky in Hercules. I made it out really easily in this morning's twilight with 10x50 binoculars, although to me it just appears as a fuzzy blob with barely any indication of a tail. However, in images there is a delicate and fine tail curving away from it. Here are some images captured with an SXVF-H9, 15 x 200s exposures, with a 250mm f/4.7 Newtonian, and stacked in DeepSkyStacker. The background has some gradient as the morning twilight was starting to fog the images.

This one has the stacking centred on the comet

This is a single 200 second frame:

This one has the stacking centred on the stars

And here's an animation of the comet's movement over the 50 minutes

And, finally, for comparison, here's an image of the comet which I captured back in September 2011

[andrew63]

Thanks for posting these, I'm looking forward to it's close approach to M92 next week - it was a lovely sight when close to M71in a rich field. All we need is a nice tail! Hope it keeps clear for you to image.

andrew

[SkyJamie]

Great collection of images Luke and nice animation

Jamie

[Beyond_Vision]

A great set of images and nice to see it presented in so many ways

Regards

Kevin

[Pete Presland]

very nice photo's looks like its going to be an early start next week to catch it passing m92

[West End Wendy]

Really interesting stuff Luke.

One of the highlights of last year for me was seeing this in the Summer. Can't believe it's still around now.

[JamesF]

Lovely pictures. I can handle the viewing part of getting up early in the morning for viewing new objects. It's the getting up early part I really struggle with.

James

[GJBC]

yep night of the third of feb 23:45 and it is next to M92

calling all astro photographers

[peterbolson]

Thanks for the superb images. I was up at 4am last night to see my first comet & was very impressed by it & by how easy it was to see. I wasn't sure what to expect but I can now understand why Messier created his catalogue.

[QldLiz]

Great images, thanks Luke.

Hasnt been visible to Southern Hemisphere for quite awhile, but Herculus is rising in the NE here (in N.Aus) so am hoping to catch another glimpse.