I've seen many comets over the years, some spectacular, and some much less so. Lately Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2 has been putting on a better than expected show. I had some clear skies last night, so I took out my binoculars to see if I could find it. Given the magnitude estimates of between 4th and 5th magnitude I didn't expect trouble and indeed it was quite bright. Knowing exactly where to look I then tried with the naked eye and found it without too much trouble.
Of course, I needed to give imaging it a try as well. This is the result of 48 luminosity subs each 1 minute long and binned 1x1. The comet alignment tool was used in PixInsight. I tried to process it in such a way as to not blow out the nucleus while bringing out as much detail in the tail as I could.
Of course, I needed to give imaging it a try as well. This is the result of 48 luminosity subs each 1 minute long and binned 1x1. The comet alignment tool was used in PixInsight. I tried to process it in such a way as to not blow out the nucleus while bringing out as much detail in the tail as I could.