Comet C/2017 E4 Lovejoy: an outstanding image (03 Apr. 2017)
Comet C/2017 E4 Lovejoy continues to impress us with its constant brightening. Its tail is now truly spectacular and we could not miss the opportunity to capture it again.
The image above comes from the sigma clipping combination of five, 60-seconds exposures, unfiltered, remotely taken with the 16″-f/3.75 Tenagra III (“Pearl”) robotic unit part of Tenagra Observatories in Arizona. The telescope tracked the apparent motion of the comet. The imaging camera is based on the KAF-16801 CCD. The resulting image scale is 2.4″/pixel. The ion tail is a truly prominent feature, evolving within a few minutes. We collected 80 frames and will release a video soon
The observatory hosting the telescope is placed at 1300 meters above the sea level, in the Sonoran desert, providing one of the best skies in the world. This image is the first one coming from a cooperation between the Virtual Telescope Project and Tenagra Observatories, Ltd., which will be announced soon.
Support The Virtual Telescope Project!
Support us! Please, donate and receive an EXCLUSIVE image of COMET C/2020 F3 Neowise above the monumets of Rome and much more, specifically made for supporters like you!
(you can adjust the amount later)