Thursday, September 15, 2011

C/2009 P1 ( Garradd )

Observed this comet on August 29 and September 12 with the 14 inch.  Noticed appreciable brightening (from around Mag 10 to Mag 8).  Lots of skyglow and scatter here in Indiana (our typical summer haze), so I could not see the tail.  Over 2-3 hours, motion of the comet against background stars was easily noticed.

Equipment

Oak Hollow Observatory has the following equipment:

Scopes
Meade 14 inch LX-200 ACF
Meade 10 inch LXD-55 Schmidt-Newtonian
Meade ETX-125
Meade ETX-90
Coronado PST

Imaging
SBIG ST402ME
Lifecam HD
Nikon D40

16 hour integration of the Heart Nebula with the Dwarf 3 telescope

The Heart Nebula can be a challenging object due to its low surface brightness, especially in my neighborhood where I image under Bortle 8/9...