In 2017, I took a photograph that captured comet ER61 passing through the LBN 762 nebula in the constellation of Aries. The LBN 762 nebula is a region of stellar formation composed of gas and dust that extends across the sky, located about 2,500 light-years away from Earth. In the image, the nebula appears as a diffuse and filamentous structure, while comet ER61 is seen as a bright and elongated object in motion.
Comet ER61, also known as Comet C/2016 U1 NEOWISE, is a long-period comet that was discovered on October 21, 2016, by NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission. This comet has an elliptical orbit that takes it out to the far reaches of the Solar System and back, with an estimated orbital period of around 20,000 years.
The comet's tail extends behind the nucleus and appears as a diffuse line or arc. To capture the comet's passage through the nebula, I used a luminance filter and a stack of 106 photographs, each lasting 3 minutes, which enhanced the structure and contrast in the nebula and captured details that would not be visible to the naked eye. In summary, the photograph shows the cosmic spectacle of comet ER61 passing through the LBN 762 nebula, located at a distance of about 2,500 light-years from Earth, in the night sky.
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