Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann
in Outburst - March 18th
Periodic Comet in Cancer

 

            
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 Currently
            at 10.8th magnitude, this distant comet which lies our near Jupiters
            orbit normally is a very dim 16th magnitude. Every few years
            however, this comet has some sort of event, perhaps a new vent
            of gas opening on the surface and brightens 5 or 6 magnitudes.
            I was lucky enough to capture this current explosive venting
            by staying tuned to the Comet Imaging Group on Yahoo. The comet
            is primarily dust, and thus appears white in color.

            
Several dim galaxies
            also can be seen in this field, when viewing the larger images.
            A small 15.1 magnitude edge on spiral can be seen very near the
            comet, just to its lower left. This galaxy is PCG26441 and is
            .7 arc mins across. Another small less inclined spiral can be
            seen in the upper right corner, 14.9 magnitude MCG+2-24-5. North
            is up here, in this 1.5 degree wide field of view. The bright
            star is 6.7 magnitude, and is an F8V class, appearing here very
            white in color.

Optics:  8" f/4 Newtonian Astrograph w/Baader MPCC Coma Corrector
Platform:  Astrophysics AP1200  
Camera:  Hutech Modified Canon XTi @ ISO800
Exposure:  12 x 5m = 60m
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  4/10, Transparency 8/10
Outside Temperature:  35F
Processing Tools:  Photoshop CS2, Images Plus 3.82
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