Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Taurus (Tau)  ·  Contains:  Solar system body or event
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Comet 2022 E3 ZTF ~ Late To The Party ...., Jay Hovnanian
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Comet 2022 E3 ZTF ~ Late To The Party ....

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Comet 2022 E3 ZTF ~ Late To The Party ...., Jay Hovnanian
Powered byPixInsight

Comet 2022 E3 ZTF ~ Late To The Party ....

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Description

Well after midnight on a night in mid-February, I had the time to shoot one more hour of my primary target (M78) before the clouds were scheduled to end my night.  And I wasn't drawn to this comet, like Hyakutake or Hale-Bopp or even Kobayashi-Berger-Milon (I'm dating myself), but I figured, "Why not?"  So I got in exactly 60-minutes of Light frames, etc. as the clouds were arriving and put the data aside until M78 got its due.

With the new Comet Processing feature in PI, I got decent raw results but could not put together anything that resembled an acceptable final image to me.  Some of the results were flat-out disastrous.  Then, my Astro mentor ( @Terry Hancock ) and I started working on the data and hit a few bumps on the processing road ... but today, we came to a final image that was acceptable to both of us.  Afterward, though, I thought I might be able to get a little more out of the "Comet Only" component.  So, employing the methods that Terry and I utilized earlier in the day - he's quite accomplished, and what he has taught me in the last year or so, I came to this final image.  Perhaps when the next comet comes around - beloved or not, I'll approach it more seriously and benefit from this experience ....

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Comet 2022 E3 ZTF ~ Late To The Party ...., Jay Hovnanian