Revisit of comet C/2006 M4 (Swan)
Below is an image of comet C/2006 M4 (Swan) taken early Saturday morning between 05:40 and 05:55 MDT. Its diffuse tear drop shape was easily visible even with 10×50 binoculars. It certainly helps being at a dark sky site and having a view of it in a clear sky for a change. I had some challenges getting an image however. My location was such that the comet was behind the top leaves of a tree when I first spotted it around 5:25am. The marine battery I was using to power my notebook and Stellacam II had tripped off due to low voltage. The notebook had shut down as well from low battery. I had dropped and broken my headlamp and I couldn’t find the spare. Also, the temperature was 32°F and humidity was 85% so everything was starting to frost over. Everything worked out though a few minutes later. I was able to fumble around in the predawn light and connect to my scope battery to run the notebook and Stellacam II. The comet cleared most of the leaves of the tree.
Location was Crow Valley Campground near Briggsdale, CO. Sky was clear, transparency was very good, temperature was 32°F, no wind, and turbulence 6/10. Celestron Nexstar11 telescope mounted on APT wedge, Meade F3.3 focal reducer, and Stellacam II video camera. Integrate 128 frames (4 sec), medium gamma, and 9/14 gain. Stacked and aligned with Registax3.
October 3rd, 2006 at 4:47 pm
Hi Vern
Those are some beautiful shots!.Were the Quintet hard to see through the eye piece?.Also,if possible…can I please borrow a clear sky?.We have had crappy skies for almost 2 weeks now and I just need to borrow one from you.I promise to give the clear sky back in good condition…..hahahahahahaha!!.
October 3rd, 2006 at 10:37 pm
Nope, no way, we need all the clear sky we can get here! Through the eyepiece on my C11 the brighter one NGC 7320 was barely visible, the others visible too but very difficult. I was setup in my favorite spot last Friday, next to Gary’s 30 inch dob. Stephan’s quintet through the 30 looked like the picture but with more detail. Around 2 am we took a look at the Persus galaxy cluster in the 30 — absolutely awesome. The entire eyepiece was filled with galaxies — at least 20, maybe more. The view was pretty close to Russel Crowman’s image of this amazing area of the sky. See http://www.rc-astro.com/php/displayImage.htm?id=1156
October 21st, 2006 at 8:36 am
Hi: I am an amateur astronomer. I live in Chile, South America. I am very impressed about your astronomy shots, specially Swan comet.I hope some day make the same here from Chile.
Clear skies !
Rodolfo
October 21st, 2006 at 10:42 am
Thanks Rodolfo,
Locating and imaging comets is fun. It would be especially so in the dark southern skies that I assume you have nearby. We\’re looking forward to hearing from you.
October 26th, 2006 at 6:14 am
Hello guys… at first when i was reading and checking the coordinates of the “swan”, i thought it has a tail, but when i saw your picture you took, it has no tail. wierd..
October 26th, 2006 at 11:07 am
Check the latest post at http://www.raben.com/weblog/2006/10/25/c2006-m4-swan/
The tail has been developing over the last month. Fellow observer\’s here in Colorado tell me that the tail is about 1 degree long (Oct 26) when seen from a dark sky site. The tail is pretty dim in the image taken on Oct 25th, but if you crank up your computer monitor\’s brightness and contrast a bit you can see it extending toward the upper left (northeast).