Fighting planes, clouds and just general mayhem in the sky, I finally got a picture of comet Catalina 2013 US10 before it recedes into interstellar space. Catalina maxed out at around magnitude 6 back at the beginning of January, but since the 17th it has been pulling away from earth and is now dimming at a rate of nearly 1/10 of a magnitude per day. Shining in the vicinity of magnitude 8 tonight, I was able to capture Catalina as it was passing by everybody's favorite alignment star, Polaris.
Catalina and Polaris in the same frame; Polaris is on the left side of the image, to the upper right of the tree branch. Catalina is on the same level as Polaris, but close to the right hand side of the frame.
Image details; Nikon D5000, Nikon 55-200 lens @ 70mm, F4.2, ISO800, 8 Frames @45 seconds, tracking via hand-driven hinge tracker, stacked in DSS, processed in GIMP.
The latest on C/2013 US10; http://theskylive.com/c2013us10-info
Catalina and Polaris
Catalina and Polaris
Last edited by Apollo XX on Mon Feb 01, 2016 5:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
Re: Catalina and Polaris
Great image Mike! way to go, congrats.
hand-driven hinge tracker ... wow ... and perfect tracking results too. amazing
hand-driven hinge tracker ... wow ... and perfect tracking results too. amazing
Andy
Re: Catalina and Polaris
Yes, great shot. I was able to find the comet, but wasn't able to image it. Nice going.
Don
Don
"When I was 18, my father was the dumbest man I ever knew.
When I was 21, I could not believe how much he had learned in 3 years." --- Mark Twain
Orion 120mm F/5 Refractor
Celestron 8
Explore Scientific 80 Triplet
Explore Scientific 102 Triplet
Orion 8" Astrograph
When I was 21, I could not believe how much he had learned in 3 years." --- Mark Twain
Orion 120mm F/5 Refractor
Celestron 8
Explore Scientific 80 Triplet
Explore Scientific 102 Triplet
Orion 8" Astrograph
- rjbokleman
- Posts: 517
- Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2014 11:09 pm
Re: Catalina and Polaris
Mike,
I see it! I see it!
Nicely done! Getting a comet is one of the toughest astrophotography feats I can think of.
I see it! I see it!
Nicely done! Getting a comet is one of the toughest astrophotography feats I can think of.
Ron B.
T5i/700D, ASI1600MM-C, ASI120MM, ASI174MM, XAGYL 7x36mm FW
Astronomik Deep-Sky(RGB), CLS, Ha, OIII, SII
SV60EDS 60mm f/5.5 APO
AT65EDQ 65mm f/6.5 ED Quadruplet
SW ProED 100mm f/9.0 Doublet APO
C8 EdgeHD, AT130EDT
AVX, iEQ45 Pro
http://www.astrobin.com/users/rjbokleman/
T5i/700D, ASI1600MM-C, ASI120MM, ASI174MM, XAGYL 7x36mm FW
Astronomik Deep-Sky(RGB), CLS, Ha, OIII, SII
SV60EDS 60mm f/5.5 APO
AT65EDQ 65mm f/6.5 ED Quadruplet
SW ProED 100mm f/9.0 Doublet APO
C8 EdgeHD, AT130EDT
AVX, iEQ45 Pro
http://www.astrobin.com/users/rjbokleman/
Re: Catalina and Polaris
Thanks for the kind words, guys!
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
Re: Catalina and Polaris
Good going, Mike!!
The beautiful color of Catalina really stands out!
Bill G.
The beautiful color of Catalina really stands out!
Bill G.
Comets:40, Best Meteor shwr: Leonids '01, Best Aurora:Oct. '03.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.
Total.Sol.Eclipse,7/10/72 from Nova Scotia.Annular Sol. Eclipse '94,
Trans.of Venus 2004&2012.,ShoeLevy crash into Jupiter '94.
4/25/66 fireball-9 mag.,SN2011fe,N2012aw,DelphN2013.