1004X EX-VIEW LONG EXPOSURE ASTRO CAMERA

COMET 2P ENCKE

This Periodic Comet has a short period of only 3.3 years. Conditions are rarely favourable for observation though. The return in 2003 promises to be a good one with the comet potentially becoming visible in binoculars at magnitude +6 in late November

21 November 2003

click on the image for an animation

80mm f5 refractor +1004x-JG 31x20sec (high gain)

The field is approximately 1/2 degree wide

The comet has brightnened considerably since the last image and was just visible in the eyepiece

IR cut and light blue (80A) filters were used to enhance the diffuse comma against the sky background

16th November 2003

80mm f5 refractor +1004x-JG 8x20sec (high gain)

IR cut and light blue (80A) filters were used to enhance the diffuse comma against the sky background

This comet is still proving difficult to image even now it is at a reported visual mag 9

23rd October 2003

VC200L @ F6.3 26x30sec (1004x-JG high gain)

The frames were aligned on the comet nucleus. The streaks are star trails. The image is a negative to bring out any possible nebulosity

This is my first attempt at imaging this object. Although it was being reported visually around mag 13, it appears very condensed (effectively stellar) in this image at about mag 15, with no sign of nebulosity or tail.

This is an animation of the raw frames from the image above to show the comets movement against the background stars. (The time period was approximately 20min)