Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Solar system body or event
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NEOWISE (19 July 2020), rdk_CA
NEOWISE (19 July 2020)
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NEOWISE (19 July 2020)

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NEOWISE (19 July 2020), rdk_CA
NEOWISE (19 July 2020)
Powered byPixInsight

NEOWISE (19 July 2020)

Equipment

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Acquisition details

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Description

I was able to get a crude image of comet NEOWISE through low clouds here in the Bay Area late last month. I acquired the image using my DSLR camera through a 135 mm lens set to f/2.8. This system was mounted on top of my C8 telescope. Light pollution is quite severe where I live, and the comet was nearly drowned out by the glow of city lights from San Francisco to the NW. Subtracting out the background was also complicated due to uneven transparency from the low clouds.

I am inexperienced with imaging and post-processing when it comes to comets and asteroids. In this case, I generated two stacks, using one with the stars as a reference and the other using the comet. I then removed the star trails for the comet-stabilized image and overlaid the two using Corel Paint Shop.

Bright comets like this don't come by all that often - so I am glad I had a chance to image it while I could (even if under less than ideal circumstances!)

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NEOWISE (19 July 2020), rdk_CA