An odd night - a lot of isolated clouds but with crystal-clear dark skies beyond. I'd got my night-pass from my better-half and wasn't going to waste it, so I got set up for imaging Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd which was up there in the constellation Pegasus, visible as a fuzzy white patch through the binoculars. I set up the scope for a 50-shot run of 300s exposures and let the kit run on auto while I got on with other stuff.
As I expected, most of the exposures were rejected due to the clouds, and I ended up with just three useful frames. Then it rained stair-rods.
No matter, I've stacked and processed them anyway and the result's fair if not brilliant. Give me a clear night for this target and I reckon I could get a much better image. I'll wager that it won't happen soon though, what with all this glorious summer weather. I'll see what I can do in the coming months.
Anyway, it looked something like this:
Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd (04/08/2011 @ 01:09 approx), in the constellation Pegasus.
Subs: 3 light @ 300s, darks and bias frames, ISO400.
1000D on the 6" R-C, guided with PHD.
