Comet Christiansen 15th August 2009

[lukebl]

Hi all,

Thought I would post these images of Comet Christiansen, taken this evening, just a stone's throw from M27. Having continuing issues with my autoguiding, so the stars aren't as round as they should be, but I think the images have worked fairly well.

The first is a stacked set of 13 x 2 min exposures, centred on the comet. Manually stacked in Photoshop. I think the field of view is probably about 0.5 degrees from top to bottom.

The second is an animation of nine of the frames, covering about 40 minutes showing how it's moving along at a fair old lick!

Any comments would be welcome.

Skywatcher 200P

HEQ-5 Pro mount

Guided using PHD Guiding with an spc900 webcam on a Skymax 90

Unmodded Canon 400D plus 2x Skywatcher Barlow at 800ASA

Best wishes,

Luke, Norfolk, UK

[lukebl]

... and here's the same set of images with the stacking centred on the stars rather than the comet.

Regards,

Luke

[Lee]

Blimey, That comet is motoring along.

Great images thanks for sharing.

Lee.

[yeti monster]

Cool! Lovin' the animation, it really is scootin' on.

[Glasspusher]

Very nice animation, well done!

John

[barkis]

Very nice animation and images Luke.

Ron.

[Herakles]

impressive

[skye at night]

Nice....is one to look out for

Steve

[ncjunk]

very good animation and the stacked one centred on the stars!

Neil C

[lukebl]

Many thanks for the positive comments.

Incidentally, according to Calsky it's at mag 8.2 whereas Heavens Above says 11.8.

It's definitely closer to the former in magnitude and appears bright in my 200mm f/5 Newtownian and a 25mm EP, like a small galaxy.

Regards,

Luke

[Taff]

Nice one Luke' great capture.Mark

[Talitha]

Beautifully done, Luke! I've always loved the 'signature' seafoam green color comets have.

[Starstrike]

Great images Luke, that will teach us to be Perseid mad. Paul

[lukebl]

SINCERE APOLOGIES to E. J. Christensen for incorrectly spelling the name of his comet!

Kind regards,

Luke

[Coco]

Missed the post ... Thats a cool animation

Love it...

Guy..

[Herakles]

Excellent animation.

[prokyon]

Great work, thanks for sharing!