When I processed the photos of Comet 73P/Schwassman-Wachman the other night, I was not too happy with the results. This picture is what I came up with for the basic color combine, and although I'm sure a little more expert processing might be able to refine it slightly, it's just not what I was hoping for.
So, I decided instead to take the clear filter images only, align them on the stars, and see if there was any motion. I was pleasantly surprised with that result, it really shows a fast-moving comet. Apparently I can't post an animated .gif to this blog, so to see the movie you will have to go to http://www.schlottmancpa.com/xanadu/Comet73PLossy2.gif. I decided to share the picture on a few listserves, and I received some nice comments about it. I was especially excited when the Flandrau Planetarium asked me for permission to post my image on their Skywatchers Guide website!
So while I've been way too busy to get any serious astronomy in lately - I've been in the office for more than 80 hours per week for the last two weeks - I'm still managing to have some astro fun. But the real fun is coming very soon...only a little over a week from now...stay tuned for live reports from the Texas Star Party, April 23-30. I intend to make up for lost time while I'm there.
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