Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Draco (Dra)  ·  Contains:  Bode's Galaxy  ·  Cigar Galaxy  ·  M 81  ·  M 82  ·  NGC 3031  ·  NGC 3034  ·  The star 22UMa  ·  The star 24UMa  ·  The star 27UMa
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Cometary Crossroads, Ray Butler
Cometary Crossroads
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Cometary Crossroads

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Cometary Crossroads, Ray Butler
Cometary Crossroads
Powered byPixInsight

Cometary Crossroads

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Description

On May 11 & 13, I imaged the same field in Ursa Major, because two of the year's best comets were in the same few degrees of the night sky.

Their individual personalities can be seen - the faster moving, more diffuse C/2017 T2 PANSTARRS and the slower C/2019 Y1 ATLAS with its more intense central brightness.

Rounding off the spectacle, both were making close approaches to the M81/M82 galaxy group and the sprawling, ghostly IFN (Integrated Flux Nebula).

Fuji X-T100 camera, Mamiya 80/1.9 lens at f4, AstroTrac, (86 x 2 minutes) + (66 x 2 minutes) of exposure. Cropped to about 50% of the original frame.

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Cometary Crossroads, Ray Butler