Canon 350D Hap Griffin Baader Mod
13x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
APM TMB 130/780 Refractor with AP Field Flattener
Astronomik CLS Filter

SETI Institute Comet Tuttle Page - Image

Sky and Telescope Online Gallery December 27, 2007

First light with the APM refractor. Guided on the comet nucleus with PHD guiding and imaged past the meridian with EQMOD control.

At the time of this image, it was located at:

RA: 01h16m37s DE:+44°50'30" in the constellation Andromeda and was magnitude 6.2

The comet was moving rapidly in the SSE direction at the rate of 8.702 arcsec/minute, or about 3.5 degrees per day.

The green hue is a sign of cyanogen and diatomic carbon in the comet's atmosphere; both substances glow green when exposed to solar radiation.

8P/Tuttle is a periodic comet in our solar system with a 13.6 year orbital period. On January 2, 2008 it will pass Earth at a distance of only 0.25 AU. Later that month it will become favorable to Southern hemisphere observers.

Comet 8P/Tuttle is responsible for the Ursid meteor shower in late December.


December 26, 2007