C/2004 Q2 Machholz (Dec 12)

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About this Image

Comet Q2 Machholz at good conditions in 1600 m height (Weinebene)
On August 27th, 2004, Don E. Machholz (Colfax, CA, USA) discovered his 10th comet visually with a 0.15-m reflector.
The ion tail to the north still is faint but shows some internal structure. Its lenght in this image measures 4'.
At 4h a reddish gas tail is visible.

Below you find a 4 frame animation over 20 minutes.
north is up

clic for animation 500 kB


Technical Details
Optics

Canon EF 200mm L at f/2.8

Mount Vixen SP GEM
Camera SBIG STL-11000M at -30C, internal filter wheel
Filters Astronomik LRGB
Date Dec 12, 2004 19:15-21:15 UT.
Location Weinebene/Austria
Sky Conditions mag 6.5 sky, high transparency, temperature 0 C
Exposure Top: L:R:G:B= 20:10:10:10 minutes (5-min sub-exposures);
Processing Image calibration, aligning on stars, average stacking; color synthesis and DDP in ImagesPlus;
color balance, curves in Photoshop; animation in Imageready;