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Come join the friendliest, most engaging and inclusive astronomy forum geared for beginners and advanced telescope users, astrophotography devotees, plus check out our "Astro" goods vendors.
I finally had all of winter that I could handle. On Monday I took the cover off my dome and opened the observatory for the new year. My first target for 2024 was 12P/Pons-Brooks. The target proved to be both easier and more difficult than I imagined. It was easy because all I had to do was enter the RA/Dec into the telescope, wait for the sky to darken, and there it was!
It was difficult because by the time the sky was dark enough to locate the comet and focus on it with my camera it was only about 20 degrees above the horizon and less than that above the trees. The comet was diffused with a magnitude of 8.63. I had about 20 minutes to capture whatever I was going to capture. I wanted at least two shots to confirm movement.
I tossed all the rules of good photography out the window (which is fairly common for me) and came away with the following two pictures taken 14 minutes apart.
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), ZWO OAG, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, ASI 220mm mini , IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
That is awesome, especially considering how low it was. Thanks for the share Rob!!
All the best,
Mark
"The Hankmeister" Celestron 8SE, orange tube Vixen made C80, CG4, AZ-EQ5 and SolarQuest mounts.
Too much Towa glass/mirrors.
Solar:
H/A - PST stage 2 mod with a Baader 90mm ERF on a Celestron XLT 102 (thanks Mike!)
Ca-K - W/O 61mm, Antares 1.6 barlow, Baader 3.8 OD and Ca-K filters with a ZWO ASI174mm.
W/L - C80-HD with Baader 5.0 & 3.8 Solar film, Solar Continuum 7.5nm and UV/IR filters with a Canon EOS 550D. Member of the RASC
