Three Comets in Pegasus / Andromeda 
Comet 168P / Hergenrother
Comet 260P / McNaught
Comet C/2012 J1 Catalina
Nearly full moon in Pegasus...

Uploaded 11/23/12

 There are times when the sky is totally clear, but the moon is full and we do not want to waste a valuable clear night! Last night was such an evening, the 85 percent full moon was in northern Pegasus, but so was three faint comets, which are amongst the brightest in the sky at this time. So here are last nights images, which had plenty of moon glows in them for you to ponder. All images with the 12.5" f/5 Newtonian, and ST10xme CCD from Payson Arizona. All exposures are 10 minutes.

Lets start with Comet 168P / Hergenrother, now fading in Andromeda at around 11.8th magnitude. There is a bit of a tail seen here as a very broad fan. The larger sizes will show the entire field, this is cropped:

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 Next, also in Andromeda is Comet 260P / McNaught, now at 13.5 magnitude and also fading. A bit asymmetrical coma here, not quite a tail.

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 Finally, Comet C/2012 J1 Catalina, currently around magnitude 13 or so. It was round, with only a symmetrical coma to be seen. Click the larger sizes to see the full field, this is quite cropped.

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Lens: 12.5" f/5 Home built Newtonian Platform: Astrophysics AP1200 Exposure: 10m Location: Payson, Arizona Elevation: 5150 ft. Sky: Seeing 6/10, Transparency 8/10 Outside Temperature: 40F Processing Tools: Maxim DL, Photoshop CS2 HOME GALAXIES EMISSION NEBS REFLECTION NEBS COMETS GLOBULARS OPEN CLUST PLANETARIES LINKS