Comet Lovejoy in Strong Moonlight – Jan 29, 2015, 00:43 UT

C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) on Jan 29, 2015, 00:43 UT.  17x180 sec @ ISO 1600, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Lumicon Deep Sky filter, Canon T3 DSLR.
C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) on Jan 29, 2015, 00:43 UT. 17×180 sec @ ISO 1600, TV-85 at F/5.6, IDAS-LPS, Lumicon Deep Sky filter, Canon T3 DSLR.

Click here to see an extra-large version of the above.

Here’s the StarStreaks version:

q2-150129-0043-17x180-1600-85f5_6-ss
StarStreaks Processed Version

Finally, here’s the StarFreeze version:

StarFreeze Processed Version.
StarFreeze Processed Version.

I don’t shoot very many deep sky images with a moon past first quarter, but with comets I can make an exception.  Lovejoy is a really photogenic comet and it even looks good in poor conditions.   Clouds came in and I had to stop imaging after shooting less than 20 sub-images.   But, with this comet, 51 minutes of integration was enough to show it without blurring due to the tail rotation that is evident in my previous animated GIF images.

Speaking of animated GIF’s, I created one with the last 3 days of images.  On the second day, I put two images in – one from the beginning of the imaging session and one at the end of the session.  It doesn’t show much except the tail flapping around.  Part of that might be due to a difference in camera orientation.  Anyway, I include it below as another part of the documentation of Comet Lovejoy Q2’s activity:

Comet Lovejoy Q2 on Jan 27th, 28th and 29th, 2015.
Comet Lovejoy Q2 on Jan 27th, 28th and 29th, 2015.

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