62p 20231016 dbartlett

Comet 62P/ Tsuchinshan is captured here and has been estimated to be somewhere around 14th magnitude.  At the time of this image the comet was a little closer to earth than 1au with perihelion projected to be on 25 December 2023.  On perihelion 62P will be a mere 0.5 au from earth and may brighten considerably. The Starless versions hint at a tail extending faintly to the west.


 
Observational details:
Backyard setup
scope: C14 D = 356mm; fl =729mm; F# 2
camera: asi 2600mcP
exposure: 95 x90 sec
Seeing: 3/5 Transparency: 9/10
Observer: DEBartlett
 
Image Info (all):
Projection ............... Gnomonic
Projection origin ........ [1238.539207 809.860458] px -> [RA:  6 52 13.600  Dec: +21 56 57.96]
Resolution ............... 2.128 arcsec/px
Rotation ................. -3.027 deg
Reference system ......... ICRS
Observation start time ... 2023-10-16 11:13:20 UTC
Observation end time ..... 2023-10-16 11:14:50 UTC
Geodetic coordinates ..... 119 04 46 W  37 46 30 N  2357 m
Focal distance ........... 728.76 mm
Pixel size ............... 7.52 um
Field of view ............ 1d 27' 54.2" x 57' 28.0"
Image center ............. RA:  6 52 13.608  Dec: +21 56 57.90  ex: +0.400788 px  ey: -0.047951 px
Image bounds:
   top-left .............. RA:  6 55 16.762  Dec: +22 27 49.17  ex: +0.074735 px  ey: +0.260218 px
   top-right ............. RA:  6 48 57.325  Dec: +22 23 09.77  ex: +0.303605 px  ey: -0.301611 px
   bottom-left ........... RA:  6 55 28.605  Dec: +21 30 28.32  ex: -0.022763 px  ey: -0.061989 px
   bottom-right .......... RA:  6 49 11.264  Dec: +21 25 48.12  ex: -1.457164 px  ey: -1.071519 px
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