[AZ-Observing] Comet C/2006T1 Levy
- From: Andrew Cooper <acooper@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: AZ-Observing <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, TAAA Forum <taaaforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 04 Oct 2006 08:27:02 -0700
When this hit the club listserv yesterday I almost immediately decided
to make a try at photographing it. I checked my gear and stacked it by
the door and went to bed at 8:00pm for a 2:00am wakeup. I joined Dean
Salman out at his place at 3:00am with all the gear for
astrophotography. Beside Dean my other observing partner was Murphey!
I was plagued by small problems all morning, from tracking and alignment
issues (I ended up starhopping to the comet from Saturn with a GOTO
scope!), infuriatingly timed clouds, a gusty breeze and more. But I
muddled on and ended up getting enough material for a decent image, a
stack of 13 images out of 40. NexStar GPS 11", cass focus with a f/6.4
focal reducer, modified Photometrics CoolSNAP ES2 camera, 30 second
exposures binned 2x2.
The resulting image can be viewed at
http://www.siowl.com/photos/C2006T1Levy20061004.jpg
The comet was fairly easy visually as well in the 11" scope, a good
sized coma with no visible tail. I urge anyone to give it a try,
certainly easy to find just below Saturn. Ephemeride data at
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides/Comets/2006T1.html
I had hoped to make it a two comet morning, but there was no sign of
comet SWAN in the dawn with banks of clouds on the horizon.
Congratulations David!!!
Andrew
Andrew Cooper
----------------------------------------------------
http://www.siowl.com
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