Comet C/2018 W2 (Africano)

This comet was really moving, covering almost 70deg of sky during September 2019. When imaged on 17th Sept, it was at mag 10.91 and 86 million km from Earth.

The first image is the result of 130x1min exposures, stacked on the comet head. The second image was generated from 90x1min exposures, using DeepSkyStacker (DSS) software. This generates both stationary stars and comet.

The brightest star in the DSS image is HD 7667 at upper left at mag 6.7. The brightest remaining stars are between mag 10 and 11, while the irregular trail of stars to the immediate left of the comet head are around mag 12. North is to the top in both images.

ZWOASI294MC Pro camera through an 8-inch Teleskop-Service Ritchey-Chretien telescope

Date: 17/09/2019

Photographer: Graham Wilcock

Comet C/2018 W2 (Africano)

This comet was really moving, covering almost 70deg of sky during September 2019. When imaged on 17th Sept, it was at mag 10.91 and 86 million km from Earth.

The first image is the result of 130x1min exposures, stacked on the comet head. The second image was generated from 90x1min exposures, using DeepSkyStacker (DSS) software. This generates both stationary stars and comet.

The brightest star in the DSS image is HD 7667 at upper left at mag 6.7. The brightest remaining stars are between mag 10 and 11, while the irregular trail of stars to the immediate left of the comet head are around mag 12. North is to the top in both images.

ZWOASI294MC Pro camera through an 8-inch Teleskop-Service Ritchey-Chretien telescope

Date: 17/09/2019

Photographer: Graham Wilcock