Object: Comet Lulin (C/2007 N3)
Date: 02/22/09 12:20-1:00am MST
Location: ASLC Dark Sky Site near Upham, NM
Camera: Canon 350XT using f/2.8 Canon 200mm lens @ f/3.5
Exposure: 10 x 4min @ ISO 800
Mount: Meade LXD75 autoguided on a star
Processing: Registered on the comet nucleus and stacked (sigma clipped median) in ImagesPlus. Cleaned up residual stars and recombined with a single frame in PS using lighten blending to restore the star field. Final levels, curves, and noise reduction in PS.
Comments: This image was captured on a beautiful (but cold) night in the desert north of Las Cruces. The comet was clearly visible with the naked eye and the ion and anti-tails were easily resolved in both binoculars and my 14” dob at low power. I could visually see the anti-tail stretching well over a degree at 50x. The dust anti-tail (on the left) follows the comet along its orbital path and the blue ion tail (right) always points away from the Sun. The two tails span ~4.5 degrees on this night. Click here for an inverted view that enhances the faint detail of these tails.
