Comet Jacques Video

Comet Jacques came flying through Cassiopeia in late August 2014.  After a wonderful night of imaging the Veil Nebula, I had some time in the early morning after the Veil had set behind the house.  I caught Comet Jacques as it passed the meridian.

The Comet was hard to find.  My usual planetarium program and the first two websites I checked gave incorrect locations.  I found the Comet's true ephemeris when I went to The Sky Live (http://theskylive.com/).

Anyway, this video (really a slide show) shows the comet's movement in 100 30-second frames.  The comet was moving so fast that frames much longer than 30 seconds showed the comet as a line.  The movement would have been easily visible in a telescope over a few minutes' time.  Here is the link:

Comet Jacques Video

I have not stretched these images much.  You might see more if you make the video full screen.

Telescope: Astro-Tech AT111EDT and William Optics AFR-IV (eff. at f/5.6)
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9 100x30", Alnitak Flat-man flats
Filter: Astronomik CLS
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Photoshop CS3, MS PowerPoint
Location: The Woodlands, TX

A Swatch of Veil - NGC 6995 (August 2014)

Full resolution image here.

Of course, this is part of the Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant in Cygnus.  This is just the Ha (and perhaps a bit of NII).  I've wondered whether the arcs help show the location of the original blast (relative to what remains).

Telescope: Astro-Tech AT111EDT and William Optics AFR-IV (eff. at f/5.6)
Camera and Exposure: SXVF-H9 12x1200" (6nm Ha) + 12x900" (12nm Ha+NII), Alnitak Flat-man flats
Filter: Astronomik 6nm and 12nm Ha[+NII]
Guiding: SX Lodestar and SX OAG
Mount: Takahashi NJP
Software: Nebulosity, Maxim DL, Photoshop CS3
Location: The Woodlands, TX