Andrew VP
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) - The Green Comet!
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a long-period comet from the Oort cloud that was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) on 2 March 2022. The comet has a bright green glow around its nucleus, due to the effect of sunlight on diatomic carbon and cyanogen. The comet won't be seen again for approximately 50,000 years.
This was a bit of an experiment and taken with equipment that I have not used before for astrophotography. The mount is a 23 year old Meade LXD55 which is of low quality, but I have had it sitting around for many years, and while good for visual, have never used it for astrophotography. I wanted to try and set this up as a portable rig, so spent a few clear nights before capturing this image ironing out all the issues. I had to go an buy a new guide scope, as I have previously sold my spare one a few years ago. (I don't like having to re-buy items which I have previously sold). After getting everything tested, and a few false starts due to getting clouded out, it was time to image. I was able to successfully polar align, arrive at the co-ordinates of the comet, and image for 38 minutes before the batteries in both the laptop, and camera (canon 600d) went flat. Once I replace the camera battery, and mains powered the laptop, the comet set behind the roof of the house and out of sight of the telescope. The main reason for using this setup, was to see that it could work. I was happy with the result
This image was taken using 76 x 30 second exposures in color with the Canon 600d, Stacking and processing was done in PixInsight.
Equipment Details:
•Skywatcher 80ED F7.5 600mm focal length
•Meade LXD55 Mount with Autostar 497 controller
•Canon 600d unmodified CMOS Camera
•ZWO EAF Automatic focuser
•Orion Mini Guide Scope
•ZWO ASI120mc Guide Camera
•Astrophotography Tool Software for full automation
Exposure Details:
73 x 30 seconds
Total Integration Time: 38 Minutes.
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) - The Green Comet!
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a long-period comet from the Oort cloud that was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) on 2 March 2022. The comet has a bright green glow around its nucleus, due to the effect of sunlight on diatomic carbon and cyanogen. The comet won't be seen again for approximately 50,000 years.
This was a bit of an experiment and taken with equipment that I have not used before for astrophotography. The mount is a 23 year old Meade LXD55 which is of low quality, but I have had it sitting around for many years, and while good for visual, have never used it for astrophotography. I wanted to try and set this up as a portable rig, so spent a few clear nights before capturing this image ironing out all the issues. I had to go an buy a new guide scope, as I have previously sold my spare one a few years ago. (I don't like having to re-buy items which I have previously sold). After getting everything tested, and a few false starts due to getting clouded out, it was time to image. I was able to successfully polar align, arrive at the co-ordinates of the comet, and image for 38 minutes before the batteries in both the laptop, and camera (canon 600d) went flat. Once I replace the camera battery, and mains powered the laptop, the comet set behind the roof of the house and out of sight of the telescope. The main reason for using this setup, was to see that it could work. I was happy with the result
This image was taken using 76 x 30 second exposures in color with the Canon 600d, Stacking and processing was done in PixInsight.
Equipment Details:
•Skywatcher 80ED F7.5 600mm focal length
•Meade LXD55 Mount with Autostar 497 controller
•Canon 600d unmodified CMOS Camera
•ZWO EAF Automatic focuser
•Orion Mini Guide Scope
•ZWO ASI120mc Guide Camera
•Astrophotography Tool Software for full automation
Exposure Details:
73 x 30 seconds
Total Integration Time: 38 Minutes.