On 5 Feb 2023 I tested the tracker on the "green comet" aka C/2022 E3 ZTF.
5 x 60 sec exposures, "fog-reduced" using GIMP levels adjust tool. Because the comet itself is largely fog, this does have the downside of diminishing the comet a bit. Swings and roundabouts I guess.
I'd not realized just how much the comet would move in the 22 minutes I was capturing the images, so I though it illustrative to combine them into a animated gif. I had to align the star field manually, so it jumps slightly between frames, but overall I was reasonably pleased with the result.
My notes from the night:
Green comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) travelling through the constellation of Auriga for 22 minutes on 5 Feb 2023 between 22:07 and 22:30. A sequence of 10 x 60sec images. Camera Canon 5D3 with 200mm lens on home-made astro-tracker.
Bright star in the upper left is Capella, 1 deg 38 min distant. Vertically above the comet and 0 deg 14 min distant is HIP 24109, a mag 5.65 star. The comet is travelling through a triangle of mag 11 stars and moved approx. 7 arc mins during the 22 minute sequence.
The moving "blur" to the upper right of Capella is either a UFO or dirt on the camera lens/mirror. Subsequently checked the lens/mirror and no marks detected. (... cue Twilight Zone music!)
No comments:
Post a Comment