EEVA of 3 comets etc

[Cosmic Geoff]

Finally some clear skies on the 7th and I did not have to be anywhere else, so set up my EEVA rig to have a go at three comets, + M33 and M1.

Rig = 102mm Startravel achro, SLT mount, permanent wooden tripod and ASI224MC camera.  This is not a 'designed' setup, just gear I owned already.

With the aid of Precise GoTo, Platesolver2 and some live stacking in Sharpcap, I obtained images containing faint fuzzy blobs for the comets C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS), C/2018 N2 (ASASSN) and C/260P McNaugt.

Turning to M33 (which I have never seen before despite trying on a number of occasions including in rural Scotland), I got a stacked image of some faint nebulosity. Definitely something there but not spectacular.

I had likewise never seen M1, but using the gear showed an unmistakable grey oval blob which became clearer with some stacking.

Altogether a satisfactory night's work. Typical stacks were 5 x 6sec exposure.  Moon - gibbous. Semi-urban sky.

Platesolver2 solves in about 1 second on a Dell Vostro laptop.

Edited November 8, 2019 by Cosmic Geoff

[Cosmic Geoff]

Here are the images related to the post above. The images of M1 and M33 may not be the greatest, but I have never been able to see these objects visually even with an 8" telescope.  Likewise, the comets are reported to be around mag 11 or 12. 

[Paul M]

Nice report. You've spotted exactly 3x more comets than I have this year. Possibly last year too!

I must try harder.

[Mike JW]

Comets - not the easiest of objects to capture. I must take a look at these with the Dob but I doubt I will see anymore than you did. 

Mike