Comet Wirtanen on Dec 14 & 15, 2018



1600mm prime focus (Dec 14)

Date & Time: Dec 14 2018, from 24:40 to 24:59 JST(+0900)
Composed 12 shots with 2 minutes exposed
Optical: Meade 25cm(10") Schmidt-Cassegrain with conversion lens (f=1600mm, F6.3)
with BaaderPlanetarium Moon&Skyglow filter
Auto-guided with Meade LX200 Equatorial & Pictor 201XT
Digital Camera: Nikon D810A
Location: Ooizumi, Hokuto city, Yamanashi pref.

Camera Settings: Recording Format...14bit CCD-RAW, converted to 16bit TIFF(4080×4080)
Device Size...20×20mm
Sensitivity...ISO6400, White Balance...Daylight




324mm prime focus (Dec 14)

Date & Time: Dec 14 2018, from 23:54 to 24:52 JST(+0900)
Composed 20 shots with 3 minutes exposed
Optical: BORG 67FL with conversion lens (f=324mm, F4.8)
with BaaderPlanetarium Moon&Skyglow filter
Auto-guided with TAKAHASHI JP Equatorial
Digital Camera: Canon EOS 6D (Remodeled)
Location: Ooizumi, Hokuto city, Yamanashi pref.

Camera Settings: Recording Format...14bit CCD-RAW, converted to 16bit TIFF(5472×3648)
Device Size...36×24mm, Sensitivity...ISO2500




Hyades, Pleiades & Comet Wirtanen (Dec 15)

Date & Time: Dec 15 2018, from 23:51 to 24:06 JST(+0900)
Composed 6 shots with 3 minutes exposed
Optical: AF zoom-Nikkor 80-200mmF2.8 D (f=80mm, Stop: F4.5)
Auto-guided with TAKAHASHI JP Equatorial
Digital Camera: Nikon D810A
Location: Ooizumi, Hokuto city, Yamanashi pref.

Camera Settings: Recording Format...14bit CCD-RAW, converted to 16bit TIFF(7360×4912)
Device Size...FX format (36×24mm)
Sensitivity...ISO1600, White Balance...Daylight




Left: Movement for 24 hours, Right: Comet Wirtanen & Geminids meteors (Dec 14)

Date & Time: Dec 14 2018, from 24:36 to 25:08 JST(+0900), 2min.×15shots
Dec 15 2018, from 25:32 to 26:01 JST(+0900), 2min.×16shots
Composed 2 flames
Optical: SIGMA 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM (f=35mm, Stop: F2.5)
Auto-guided with TAKAHASHI JP Equatorial
Digital Camera: Canon EOS 600D (Remodeled)
Location: Ooizumi, Hokuto city, Yamanashi pref.

Camera Settings: Recording Format...14bit CCD-RAW, converted to 16bit TIFF(5184×3456)
Sensitivity...ISO1600



The comet Wirtanen had gone up northward between two open clusters of the Hyades and the Pleiades on Dec 14 to 15, 2018. We could appreciate the comet almost overnight, blessed with the extraordinary good conditions. The coma's brightness reached the 3rd or 4th magnitude as with the previous observation; I could detect the coma with naked eyes easily. The third image shows you a rendez-vous shot with two clusters in Taurus. Perhaps you can detect the dimmed molecular cloud and dark nebula distributed around the field.
Furthermore, a lowest image indicates the comet's movement for 24 hours. In right flame, you can appreciate the comet with two meteors of the Geminids having the maximum activity in midnight of Dec 14.
  1st image: View angle: 0.70×0.70°
  2nd image: Cropped in equivalent focal length of 340mm (View angle: 6.02×4.02°)
  3rd image: View angle: 25.2×17.0°
  4th image: Cropped in equivalent focal length of 42mm (View angle: 20.0×30.0°)




Spectrum of Wirtanen on Dec 15, 2018

Wirtanen on Dec 8, 2018


Copyright(c) 2018 by Naoyuki Kurita, All rights reserved.
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