Comet Holmes and the
Perseus Association
Comet and Milkyway Spiral Arm

 

            

            
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 The night
            was dark and clear, and the high clouds had moved on. The comet
            is now forming a stunning composition with the Perseus arm of
            our galaxy, known as the Perseus Association. Seen here is the
            comets coma, with the very dim blue wisp of a tail that has disconnected
            moving off to its upper right. Alpha Persei is the brightest
            star in this field, and the third magnitude comet is now entering
            this rich star field which resembles a star cloud full of gold
            and blue stars.

            
I encourage you
            to view the largest image, the detail is worth the download.
            

            
This was with my
            Canon L lens set for 100mm FL, and stopped down to f/5 for sharpness.
            

Lens:  Canon 100-400L at 100mm f/5
Platform:  Astrophysics AP1200  (Piggyback on 12.5")
Camera:  Hutech Modified Canon XTi @ ISO800
Exposure:  26 x 5m
Filters:  0
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  7/10, Transparency 8/10
Outside Temperature:  45F
Processing Tools:  Photoshop CS2, Maxim DSLR
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