Currently the brightest comet around at about mag. 9. Photometry with ASTAP gives me a V magnitude of 9.7. Animation shows it heading away from the Sun now, after perihelion (1 Feb 2022), tail first.
| Object ID | Comet 19P Borrelly |
| Details | 2022-02-26 21:02:22 – 21:42:46 |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian V filter |
| Camera | Atik 460EX @-10°C |
| Exposure(s) | 20 x 120s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | ASTAP, Photoshop |
Monitored over about 45 minutes
| Object ID | C/2019 L3 ATLAS |
| Details | 2022-01-03 19:11:26 – 19:54:09 UT |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian, MPCC |
| Camera | QHY168C IDAS D3 |
| Exposure(s) | 15 x 180s darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
Attempted photometry:
Animation showing movement over the period
The comet visited by Rosetta. Low down in the Edinburgh murk.
| Object ID | 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko |
| Details | 2021-12-14 22:28 – 00:10 UT |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian MPCC, IDAS P2 |
| Camera | QHY168C @-15°C |
| Exposure(s) | 14x180s, darks, flats, bias |
| Capture | NINA |
| Processing | APP, Photoshop |
Wrong telescope for a comet of this size (8 degree – only 0.5 degree FOV) but came out quite well. Surprising colour combinations – green coma expected, red tail not. Cloned out the trailed RGB stars in PS.
| Object ID | C/2020 F3 NEOWISE |
| Details | 2020-07-18 23:22UT |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian |
| Camera | Atik 460EX @-15C |
| Exposure(s) | 5×30 each RGB Darks |
| Capture | APT |
| Processing | SiriL, DSS, Photoshop |
Getting larger and diffuse.
| Object ID | Coment 46P/Wirtanen |
| Details | 2018-12-09 19:30 – 19:56 UT |
| Telescope | 250mm f4.8 Newtonian IDAS P2, MPCC |
| Camera | Canon 600D |
| Exposure(s) | 30 x 40s ISO 800 |
| Capture | APT |
| Processing | Deep Sky Stacker comet mode Photoshop |
Tail starting to develop and definitely getting brighter
| Object ID | 21P/Giacobini-Zinner |
| Details | 2018-08-16 22:09:30 – 22:23:23 UT |
| Telescope | 200mm Newtonian f5 |
| Camera | ZWO ASI290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 20 x 15s, 30s delay between exposures |
| Capture | SharpCap |
| Processing | Nebulosity, Photoshop |
Moving through the constellation of Cassiopeia
| Object ID | 21P/Giacobini-Zinner |
| Details | 2018-08-03 22:12 – 22:25 UT Approx. mag. 9 |
| Telescope | 200mm Newtonian f5 |
| Camera | ZWO ASI 290MC |
| Exposure(s) | 20 x 10s exposures, 30seconds apart |
| Capture | SharpCap |
| Processing | Photoshop |
2010-09-07 21:00 UT
200mm f5 Newtonian SW LPR MPCC
Canon EOS 350D Guided
5x60s 5x90s 3x120s subs darks ISO 800
Processed in Nebulosity, PhotoShop CS5
Also 1 frame to show comet against star field without trailing.
From Wikipedia: Comet Hartley 2, officially designated 103P/Hartley, is a small periodic comet with an orbital period of 6.46 years. It was discovered by Malcolm Hartley in 1986 at the Schmidt Telescope Unit in Siding Spring, Australia. Its diameter is estimated to be 1.2 to 1.6 km. It will be the subject of a flyby by the Deep Impact spacecraft on November 4, 2010, with a closest approach of 700 kilometers. This is part of the EPOXI mission.
And here’s NASA’s view of it from the EPOXI mission.
5-11-2007
180mm f15 Mak-Cass, Canon EOS 350D
Subs: 10x25s
Re-processed in Nebulosity and PhotoShop CS3
Was it really this green?
Some time in 1997?
A blast from the past. Found this scan of a picture I took of Hale-Bopp from the Isle of Arran. Don’t have much info about it but it was taken with a 35mm Praktica and a 135mm lens.
Trees and light pollution are obviously an issue but not too bad. An impressive comet!
