COMETS.

Techniques.

Imaging a comet uses the same techniques as used for deep-sky work. However, a comet moves against the stars so one should not guide on the stars but on the nucleus of the comet! This will produce startrails on the image but the comet will show more detail. Unless the comet is quite bright and has a good and bright point-like nucleus you could guide visually or autoguide with a ST-4 or STV on the comet, but in most cases this is not possible. A good solution is a programmable drive corrector. Using the comet elements and a program such as Megastar or The Sky, calculate the drift of the comet in Right Ascension and Declination during 24 hours. These data are then programmed into the drive controller and if everything is OK, the drive should track the comet instead of the stars....

Comet 1999S4 Linear.

Comet 1999T1 McNaught-Hartley.

. Comet 2001 A2 Linear.

Comet 2002 C1 Ikeya Zhang

Comet 2002 O4 Hönig

Comet 2002 X5 Kudo-Fujikawa.

Comet 2001 Q4 Neat

Comet 2003 K4 Linear

Comet 2004 Q2 Macholz

Comet 2005 K2 Linear

Comet P73C

Comet P1-McNaught

Comet 17P Holmes

Comet 2008C1 Chen Gao

Comet 2009N3 Lulin

Comet C2009 K5 McNaught

Comet C/2009 P1 Garrad.

Comet 168P Hergenrother