Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ophiuchus (Oph)  ·  Contains:  Solar system body or event
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Currently, Brightest Comet in Our Skies Just Broke 9th Magnitude - C/2017 K2 PanSTARRS June 24, 2022, Dan Bartlett
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Currently, Brightest Comet in Our Skies Just Broke 9th Magnitude - C/2017 K2 PanSTARRS June 24, 2022

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Currently, Brightest Comet in Our Skies Just Broke 9th Magnitude - C/2017 K2 PanSTARRS June 24, 2022, Dan Bartlett
Powered byPixInsight

Currently, Brightest Comet in Our Skies Just Broke 9th Magnitude - C/2017 K2 PanSTARRS June 24, 2022

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Description

Comet C/2017 K2 PanSTARRS will be closest to us on July 14, 2022.  Already a beautiful object  photographically, its brightness indicates it might be as well visually.  I'm certainly going to check at my soonest opportunity.

Upon close inspection, especially at full resolution, there is some interesting detail in and around the core of this comet.  The field of view from Top to bottom of the frame is nearly exactly 2 degrees.  How far can one trace this comet's tail?

Dan

Image info for those who archive (Sizeable image though):

WCS transformation ....... Linear
Projection ............... Gnomonic
Projection origin ........ [1581.000116 2428.999586] px -> [RA: 17 39 43.467  Dec:  +4 44 00.35]
Resolution ............... 1.476 arcsec/px
Rotation ................. -1.996 deg
Reference system ......... ICRS
Observation start time ... 2022-06-24 04:52:56 UTC
Focal distance ........... 618.28 mm
Pixel size ............... 4.42 um
Field of view ............ 1d 17' 45.7" x 1d 59' 28.2"
Image center ............. RA: 17 39 43.467  Dec:  +4 44 00.35
Image bounds:
   top-left .............. RA: 17 42 11.314  Dec:  +5 45 02.27
   top-right ............. RA: 17 36 58.991  Dec:  +5 42 19.74
   bottom-left ........... RA: 17 42 27.481  Dec:  +3 45 38.55
   bottom-right .......... RA: 17 37 16.053  Dec:  +3 42 56.48

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Currently, Brightest Comet in Our Skies Just Broke 9th Magnitude - C/2017 K2 PanSTARRS June 24, 2022, Dan Bartlett