First attempt during this rainy month of February was on Feb 20. The plan was to drive to Coast Road Reservoir, but after arriving I realized I had left the counterweights and shaft at the observatory. Doh! So I drove back and just imaged from Cabrillo Observatory. Then I found the desiccant had expired, Fortunately, it made for an interesting composition - a frosty comet seen through a frosty window.
5x3min stack, on the comet. 8" f/4 LXD75 with ST4000xcm. Light pollution was obvious, alas, as was the frost on the chip window. Stacking blurred the frost patterns on the window, so I also made... |
a single 3 minute image, rotated and Photoshop processed. |
Feb 26, a brief spell between storms. Good enough for a drive up to Coast Road reservoir for a night of shooting. Unfortunately, after 8 x 3min shots, the corrector plate began to fog and in running the 12v dew gun, it burned out. So I took a few pix with the 24mm Zuiko lens, but need a flat before reducing. Also snapped a few with the Nikon D40, to be posted soon. It seems the nice ion tail is now out of sight or gone, unfortunately. Since the comet is so precisely in the ecliptic plane, when it reappears on the eastern side it'll be with the dust tail and hard to make out.
~12 midnight. 7x3min stack on the comet head, with occasional thin clouds reflecting the lights of Santa Cruz. ST4000xcm on 8" f/4 Meade LXD75 on GM-8 mount |
