Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)

Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) on 11.01.2015

Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) - 21.01.2015

Size: 2000 px

© Velimir Popov & Emil Ivanov 2014

C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) was discovered on 17 August 2014 by Terry Lovejoy using a 0.2-meter (8 in) Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope. It is is a long-period comet. By December 2014 the comet had brightened to roughly magnitude 7.4 making it a small telescope and binoculars target. By mid-December the comet was visible to the naked eye for experienced observers with dark skies. This three panel mosaic shows the comet on January 11th 2015 at 21:30 UT. A 7 panel mosaic showing the (almost) entire comet's tail can be seen here.

Image details:

Annotation

Center of field RA	03:52:28 (h:m:s)
Center of field DE	07:19:11 (deg:m:s)
Size	1.38 x 1.86 (deg)
Pixel scale:	3.36 (arcsec/pixel)
Orientation:	Up is -71.5 degrees E of N

Charts and image details obtained from Astrometry.net

Optic(s):	ASA 12" Astrograph @ f/3.6 (Newton)
Mount:	ASA DDM85 Standard
Camera:	SBIG STL 11000 M
Filters:	Luminance, Red, Green, Blue, Astronomik filters
Dates/Times:	11. 01. 2015 21:30 UT
Location:	IRIDA Observatory, BG, longitude: E 24 44' 18", latitude: N 41 41' 42"
Exp. Details:	L:3x3 min; R:3x3 min, G:3x3 min, B:3x3 min Bin 2, Total Exposure Time - 36 min
More details:	Dark and flat frames reduction, Three panel mosaic
Processing:	PixInsight / PS

e-mail: info@irida-observatory.org