Farewell C/2020 F3 NEOWISE

Farewell Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE. See you in 6,800 years on your next pass around the sun. This was an exciting month of imaging and tracking the comet after it survived perihelion. Now that the moon is approaching the full moon phase, the comet will be drown out and difficult to view. These images are from last night, July 29, 2020 at approximately 0200hrs UTC. The moon was 68% illuminated and in the western sky which was not ideal for the comet. From the time the sky got dark enough to image to the time the comet set, I was able to capture 46 one minute exposed images Before the comet set behind the trees.

Aligned on the comet

Image details:

Imaged with the:

Celestron 9.25” EdgeHD

Starizona Hyperstar V4 f2.2

Celestron CGEM DX mount

ZWO ASI2600mc-pro Imaging Camera

ZWO ASI224mc Guide Camera

Svbony 60mm Guidescope 

ZWO ASIair Pro for image acquisition and gear control.

Image Specs:  46 x 60 second exposures Gain 100

Camera sensor cooled to -10°C

No filters used as the ASI2600mc-pro has the built in IR cut window.

Calibrated (with darks, flats, dark flats) and stacked in PixInSight. I created three images to align on the comet, align on the stars, and align on the comet but clip the stars out to combine the comet with the star field.