Comet 2002O6 August 11

Here is an image of Comet 2002O6 that I obtained new dawn last Saturday night/Sunday morning. I had to wait some time for the comet to rise above some trees, so it was very bright twilight by the time I was able to take the image.

It is a 60 second image taken with an SBIG ST-8 and an *" LX200 at prime focus.

The comet was very bright and easy to see visually despite the bright twilight. It has a very well condensed coma and a faint tail. At around 7th magnitude, it is visible in binoculars and is well worth getting out and having a look.

Cheers,

Maurice

Attached Image:

Hi Maurice,

I am just curious, do you find it necessary to manually guide the short 3 minute exposures?

And also if you don't mind me asking, how much better is the ST-8 compared to the 416XT which you used to employ? I can't detect a difference in the image quality, so other than an increase in field size, what is the benefit of the ST-8?

Thanks in advance, I have come down with CCD fever now that I have a mount which can track well.

Jeff Q