Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard
About this image:
Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard imaged on 28 December 2021 from South Africa.
I tried to capture as much detail in the structure of the tail as possible, which makes processing a challenge (as the comet is moving). The coma, tail and stars were processed individually, and each part aligned, stacked and combined.
The Comet has a green Coma (or head). The green colour is caused by Cyanogen (CN) and diatomic Carbon (C2), which glows in the green part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum of Light when illuminated by the Sun in space.
Technical Info:
Lights/Subs total integration time: 80 min.
2 Panels (40 min. per panel).
L-Pro = 16 x 90 sec. (per panel).
R = 10 x 30 sec. (per panel).
G = 10 x 30 sec. (per panel).
B = 10 x 30 sec. (per panel).
Dual Telescope Set-up:
William Optics Star 71 Imaging APO 350mm f/4.9 &
William Optics SpaceCat 51 APO 250mm f/4.9 - Limited Edition.
QHY163M Camera sensor cooled to -15°C.
Calibration frames: Bias, Darks and Flats.
SGP Mosaic and Framing Wizard.
PlaneWave PlateSolve 2 via SGP.
Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight. Straton was used for star separation, and final processing was done in Photoshop.
Astrometry Info:
Center RA, Dec: 323.505, -34.040
Center RA, hms: 21h 34m 01.210s
Center Dec, dms: -34° 02' 24.584"
Size: 7.56 x 2.88 deg.
Radius: 4.046 deg.
Pixel scale: 16.2 arcsec/pixel.
Orientation: Up is 2.18 degrees E of N.
View an Annotated Sky Chart for this image.
Carl Sagan on Comets:
People's reaction to Comets in History:
Excerpt from Cosmos S01E04: "By 1910, Halley's comet returned once more. But this time, astronomers using a new tool, the spectroscope had discovered cyanogen gas in the tail of a comet. Now, cyanogen is a poison. The Earth was to pass through this poisonous tail. The fact that the gas was astonishingly, fabulously thin reassured almost nobody. For example, look at the headlines in the Los Angeles Examiner for May 9, 1910: "Say, Has That Comet 'Cyanogened' You Yet?" "Entire Human Race Due For Free Gaseous Bath. Expect High Jinks." Or take this from the San Francisco Chronicle, May 15, 1910: "Comet Comes And Husband Reforms." "Comet Parties Now Fad In New York." Amazing stuff! In 1910, people were holding comet parties, not so much to celebrate the end of the world as to make merry before it happened. There were entrepreneurs who were hawking comet pills. I think I'm gonna take one for later. And there were those who were selling gas masks to protect against the cyanogen. And comet nuttiness didn't stop in 1910." - Carl Sagan, Cosmos.
Flickr Explore:
This image is part of the Legacy Series.
Photo usage and Copyright:
Medium-resolution photograph licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Terms (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For High-resolution Royalty Free (RF) licensing, contact me via my site: Contact.
Martin
-
[Home Page] [Photography Showcase] [eBook] [Twitter]
Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard
About this image:
Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard imaged on 28 December 2021 from South Africa.
I tried to capture as much detail in the structure of the tail as possible, which makes processing a challenge (as the comet is moving). The coma, tail and stars were processed individually, and each part aligned, stacked and combined.
The Comet has a green Coma (or head). The green colour is caused by Cyanogen (CN) and diatomic Carbon (C2), which glows in the green part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum of Light when illuminated by the Sun in space.
Technical Info:
Lights/Subs total integration time: 80 min.
2 Panels (40 min. per panel).
L-Pro = 16 x 90 sec. (per panel).
R = 10 x 30 sec. (per panel).
G = 10 x 30 sec. (per panel).
B = 10 x 30 sec. (per panel).
Dual Telescope Set-up:
William Optics Star 71 Imaging APO 350mm f/4.9 &
William Optics SpaceCat 51 APO 250mm f/4.9 - Limited Edition.
QHY163M Camera sensor cooled to -15°C.
Calibration frames: Bias, Darks and Flats.
SGP Mosaic and Framing Wizard.
PlaneWave PlateSolve 2 via SGP.
Pre-Processing and Linear workflow in PixInsight. Straton was used for star separation, and final processing was done in Photoshop.
Astrometry Info:
Center RA, Dec: 323.505, -34.040
Center RA, hms: 21h 34m 01.210s
Center Dec, dms: -34° 02' 24.584"
Size: 7.56 x 2.88 deg.
Radius: 4.046 deg.
Pixel scale: 16.2 arcsec/pixel.
Orientation: Up is 2.18 degrees E of N.
View an Annotated Sky Chart for this image.
Carl Sagan on Comets:
People's reaction to Comets in History:
Excerpt from Cosmos S01E04: "By 1910, Halley's comet returned once more. But this time, astronomers using a new tool, the spectroscope had discovered cyanogen gas in the tail of a comet. Now, cyanogen is a poison. The Earth was to pass through this poisonous tail. The fact that the gas was astonishingly, fabulously thin reassured almost nobody. For example, look at the headlines in the Los Angeles Examiner for May 9, 1910: "Say, Has That Comet 'Cyanogened' You Yet?" "Entire Human Race Due For Free Gaseous Bath. Expect High Jinks." Or take this from the San Francisco Chronicle, May 15, 1910: "Comet Comes And Husband Reforms." "Comet Parties Now Fad In New York." Amazing stuff! In 1910, people were holding comet parties, not so much to celebrate the end of the world as to make merry before it happened. There were entrepreneurs who were hawking comet pills. I think I'm gonna take one for later. And there were those who were selling gas masks to protect against the cyanogen. And comet nuttiness didn't stop in 1910." - Carl Sagan, Cosmos.
Flickr Explore:
This image is part of the Legacy Series.
Photo usage and Copyright:
Medium-resolution photograph licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Terms (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For High-resolution Royalty Free (RF) licensing, contact me via my site: Contact.
Martin
-
[Home Page] [Photography Showcase] [eBook] [Twitter]