Periodic Comet 46P/Wirtanen (26 Nov 18)
Taken by Jan Curtis on November 26, 2018 @
Vail, Arizona
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Camera Used: Unavailable Unavailable
Exposure Time: Unavailable
Aperture: Unavailable
ISO: Unavailable
Date Taken: Unavailable
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Details:
1st image:
This is a near normal "eye" view (uncropped) showing Comet 46p between 8:42PM and 8:49PM MST looking southeast over my neighbor's house. Moon rise was still 15 minutes away. This was a 27x8s unguided exposure at iso 3200 with 35mm Nikkor f/1.4 @ f/2.8 from raw file. Other than converting to jpeg, this image was not enhanced. The stars are fixed but the roof wasn't. The comet seemed a bit brighter than yesterday (www.flickr.com/photos/79387036@N07/46004947342/in/photost...) due in part to its higher elevation and viewed under perfectly clear skies. I believe the nearest brightest star just above 46p is ~6 magnitude and the small triangle of stars just to the left range from 7th to 8th magnitude.
PixInsight and PS 6.0 was used. Temperature was 55F, RH 38%, with light winds.
2nd image:
Taken near Tucson, AZ while comet was ~29 degrees elevation just before moon rise at 9PM. Used Nikon d7100, 27x4s, iso 8960, Nikkor 180mm ED f/2.8 @ f/2.8, between 8:26PM to 8:30PM MST on 26 Nov 18. Image is cropped. Processed in PixInsight and PS 6.0.
Tonight's image suggests a short embedded tail in the coma positioned at 10 o'clock.
Regretfully, my equatorial mount power pack transformer failed and was forced to take very short exposures to limit star drifting.
A new unit has been ordered and in a week, weather permitting, I should be getting outstanding images of this soon to be naked eye comet.
Photographer's website:
No URL provided.
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