Thanks Bernard. I took a full ten second exposure to reveal the comet was in the field - right where megastar plotted it exactly. Clear Skies, Chris Schur's Web Portal: http://www.schursastrophotography.com --- On Sun, 2/13/11, Bernard Miller <bgmiller011@xxxxxxx> wrote: From: Bernard Miller <bgmiller011@xxxxxxx> Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: Farewell image to comet Hartley 103P To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Sunday, February 13, 2011, 8:31 PM Chris, Cool image. It took me awhile to find the comet. This must have been a lot of work. Bernard -----Original Message----- From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Chris Schur Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2011 7:31 PM To: Az-Observing List Subject: [AZ-Observing] Farewell image to comet Hartley 103P Hi all, This CCD image is quite unlike any other image I have ever processed. As you remember, comet Hartley was a bright object last year, providing a fine show for both visual and photographic observers. Spacecraft images revealed a stunning peanut shaped nucleus, and even city dwellers were able to ferret this one out when at its brightest. But now, heading out to the far reaches of the solar system, the comet is barely visible amongst the flurry of bright colorful stars of the Monoceros Milkyway. Since the comet moved considerably during the 2 hours I imaged it last night, the method of combining CCD images taken with RGB filters separately would have resulted in thousands of rainbow streaks across the field, with the comet stationary in the center. To produce this image, with star streaks the correct color, I layered 12 copies of the color image of all 12 frames with the stars stacked and in register over each individual bead in the star trails. This when combined with lighten reproduces the trails correctly for color. fortunately a bright star did not go right over the comet image, and it remains intact in the center. The final result you will see here produces a rich spray of spectacular star colors whizzing by a tawny colored comet during a 2 hour interval. Here is the Image: http://www.schursastrophotography.com/newcomets/Hartley021211.html Clear Skies, Chris Schur's Web Portal: http://www.schursastrophotography.com -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list. -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list. -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.