Comet 46P/Wirtanen and the Pleiades (M45) on 12/16/2018 (JDJ)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Taurus (Tau) · Contains: 16 Tau · 17 Tau · 18 Tau · 19 q Tau · 20 Tau · 21 Tau · 22 Tau · 23 Tau · 24 Tau · 25 eta Tau · 26 Tau · 27 Tau · 28 Tau · 32 Tau · 33 Tau · 36 Tau · 37 A01 Tau · 39 A02 Tau · 44 p Tau · Alcyone · Asterope · Atlas · B207 · B208 · B210 · Celaeno · Electra · IC 2016 · IC 349 · IC 353 · And 26 more.

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Comet 46P/Wirtanen and the Pleiades (M45) on 12/16/2018

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Comet 46P/Wirtanen and the Pleiades (M45) on 12/16/2018

This is a cropped version of my image of Comet 46P, M45, and Aldebaran that zooms in on the comet and M45 and eliminates some of the nasty light and moonlight pollution gradients at the edges of the full image....

I was able to image Comet 46P/Wirtanen on the night of closest approach to Earth through a few lucky breaks in the clouds. The comet appeared close to the Pleiades (M45) and bright star Aldebaran on this night. I really liked the contrast between the green comet, blue-ish Pleiades, and the red giant star. I only wish I had more time to gather data this night before the clouds shut the fun down...

Imaged with a Nikon D750, 24-120 mm Nikor lens at 100 and 120 mm/F4/ISO800, 30s and 60 s exposures. Stacked using DSS for a total integration time of 15 minutes (subtracted darks, bias, and flats). Processed in Pixinsight: Cropped, gradient removal with DBE, Background Neutralization, Color Calibration, stretched using Histogram Transformation Tool, Curves Transformation, HDR Multiscale Transform, and ACDNR noise reduction.

Original
B
Final
C

B

Description: Re-processed original images using new flats and incorporating comet stacking in DSS after learning about that option on CloudyNights. Re-stacked images in DSS using Stars+Comet stacking approach. Re-processed in PI.

Uploaded: ...

C

Description: Increased color saturation in PI

Uploaded: ...

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	2449983
PixInsight job	OMQUUBHZRM2GBG97MK7VXLV9FIMRD386
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

RA (center)	03h57m27s.5
RA (top/left)	04h19m59s.2
RA (top/right)	03h46m30s.5
RA (bottom/right)	03h36m36s.9
RA (bottom/left)	04h08m20s.5

Dec (center)	+24°02′24″
Dec (top/left)	+25°50′36″
Dec (top/right)	+28°34′25″
Dec (bottom/right)	+22°04′00″
Dec (bottom/left)	+19°15′00″

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Comet 46P/Wirtanen and the Pleiades (M45) on 12/16/2018

Comet 46P/Wirtanen and the Pleiades (M45) on 12/16/2018

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Comet 46P/Wirtanen and the Pleiades (M45) on 12/16/2018

Comet 46P/Wirtanen and the Pleiades (M45) on 12/16/2018

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