Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)

So this is comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) or Comet ATLAS discovered on December 28, 2019, with a reflecting telescope atop Mauna Loa in Hawaii as part of the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). Based on orbital observations from January Comet ATLAS has a 4,400 year orbital period, however, some other more recent estimates put it at 6,000 years. This was based on observations that suggest ATLAS may be a fragment of another comet. Like most comets, it has a green hue due to high concentration of cyanide and carbon molecules (CN and C2). There was a hope that this comet may be bright enough to see with the naked eye in May after it passes by the sun. However, it appears that the comet is actually disintegrating as it gets closer to the sun so we will have to wait and see.



This was a test that turned into an image! Basically we had a clear early evening with the full moon so what I had been imaging was out of the question. I thought about activating the Atlas Pro mount and setting up in the front to do some NB imaging but decided against that as the clear weather was not going to hold. That is when I decided to try my luck with this so I set up the Atlas Mount in the front with the ED80 and my trusty Canon T3i. Meanwhile I planned to practice with APT and other software in my shed.

Sounds goods but I felt like Inspector Clouseau setting up everything in the front for the first time this year. Oh well, there are better images of the comet out there but at least I got something. I tried to stack it with it focused on just the comet but it was not sharp enough so this is what I wound up with. I took 30 second subframes because I did not use the autoguider which is on the other rig. It still produced slightly oblong stars but that I believe was because I never did a star alignment. After I did a polar alignment I plate solved to the object - I should have done a few more plate-solves since I did not use an autoguider.

Problems: I started with the SynScan hand controller as I did last year but it would not connect to the computer. After jumping up down I decided to see what would happen if I use the EQMOD Direct cable on the other rig. It worked! The new cable should arrive in a week.

I consider this a successful night as I discovered I needed another Pegasus EQMOD cable and probably should get another guide scope.

Link to Video of Imaging Comet C2019 Y4