The Green Comet, Aldebaran, Mars & Dust Clouds - 7 Minutes Integration with DSLR and Startracker
Posted Mar 2, 2023, 3:13 AM UTC
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The Green Comet, otherwise known as Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF, was a comet which passed by Earth at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 on it's 80,000 year old orbit. The next time astronomers estimate it to pass by Earth will be ~82,022. In other words, a very long time from now!
This photograph shows The Green Comet passing by the Hyades Star cluster (which Aldebaran, the bright orange star on the left, is apart of) and the Pirate Moon Cluster (NGC 1647) to right above the comet. Mars is the bright "star" on the top right of the photograph, and the faint dust clouds are part of the Bernard 22 dust clouds complex.
For me in particular, I've had a challenge capturing this due to my unusually cloudy winter and lots of personal life obligations. However, the night of 2/13, I had one last glimpse of the Green Comet passing by the Hyades star cluster. I set up my camera, and spent the whole night fighting upper atmosphere clouds. Because of that, only a very few select shots could be used for the stack and stretch. Honestly, I am surprised at the quality of the image I captured for such short integration time.
I hope you enjoy this photograph. Clear skies and God bless! (Exodus 33:14)
Below is the technical specifications for the acquisition of my image:
Equipment:
- Nikon D750
- AF Nikkor 80-200mm 1:2.8 ED lens
- iOptron Sky Guider Pro
- Feisol CT-3442 Tripod
- USB Dew Heater
Aquisition:
- Focus on the stars with live view and help of a bahtinov mask
- 420 x 30" lights
- 50 darks
- 50 bias
- 50 flats
Stacking and Processing:
- Selected 7 of the best lights
- Used all the calibration frames
- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
- Stretched and calibrated in SIRIL
- Touched up with Camera RAW in Photoshop
1
What bortle zone are you in?
Sorry, this was in a Bortle 4! I forgot to add that.