Panstarrs opportunity tonight (14th May)

[petevasey]

For those lucky imagers living in the South of England with clear skies forecast, (alas cloudy for me tonight), comet C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS passes very close to Arp 80 (NGC 2633) in Camelopardalis. NGCs 2634 and 2634A also very close.  But all these galaxies are faint, around mag 12 so will need reasonable length exposures.  If I had been able, I would have gone for 5 minutes at ISO3200 with my Canon 700D on f 7.5 950 mm refractor.  It would actually fit at 2000 mm, but the movement of the comet would of course have then been doubled.  Skymap chart attached.

Cheers and good luck,

Peter 

Edited May 15, 2020 by petevasey

[petevasey]

Well, the weather forecast was correct and it did cloud over.  But not before I managed to get on target and snatch 5 subs!  As I intended, 5 minute subs at ISO3200, Canon 700D on f 7.5 950 mm refractor (Meade Series 5000 127).  I knew they would be a bit noisy at that ISO, but had it stayed clear I would have gone for at least 12 subs, probably more.  But this will have to do.  Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker using the comet and stars setting, finished in Photoshop.  At least I managed to capture those faint galaxies as well.  I hope people in the South had better luck!

Cheers,

Peter

Edited May 22, 2020 by petevasey