Stalking Interstellar Comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)
Taken by Bill Williams on September 21, 2019 @
Chiefland Astronomy Village, Florida
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Camera Used: SBIG Unavailable
Exposure Time: Unavailable
Aperture: Unavailable
ISO: Unavailable
Date Taken: 2019:09:24 20:50:59
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Details:
Imaging the first putative interstellar comet to our Solar System has been hampered by the comet's faintness, low altitude and waxing moonlight. Nevertheless, our 14.5 inch RCOS telescope, located at Chiefland Astronomy Village in Florida, has been stalking this object imaging it the mornings of September 21, 22 and 24 thanks to an unusual dry air dome residing over us post-Hurricanes Dorian and Humberto. Each morning, I have made 8-10 five-minute exposures tracked on the stars using an SBIG 16803 CCD camera. Attached are images from the mornings of September 21st and 22nd including one image of the telescope setup peering at purple volcanic dawn skies brightened by moonlight. The comet is considerably fainter than the magnitude 17.1 PGC galaxy in the attached GIF animation. The attached stacked images show elongation of the comet perhaps representing a faint tail or may be the result of movement during the five minute exposure times.
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