144P/Kushida 2023-Dec-04 Dan Bartlett

_144P_Kushida_C14HyperStar_asi2600mcP_45x180sec_2023_12_04_214401PST_JuneLake_California_USA_DEBartlett

Not an easy comet to see in the 180 second subs, however the stack of 45 x 180 second exposures brought out something a bit more substantial (as well as fainter background material. This faint comet (estimated magnitude ~13 COBS), is rather close to us now and is expected to brighten to 8th magnitude in February 2024. I pushed the depth of field to bring out the IFN and a large gathering of galaxies.

Full Resolution: https://astrob.in/24p8k8/B/

Observational details:
Backyard setup
scope: C14HyperStar D = 356mm; fl =729mm;
exposure: 45 x 180 sec
Seeing: 5/5
Transparency: 9/10
Observer: DEBartlett
Place: June Lake_California USA


Image Info:
Projection ............... Gnomonic
Projection origin ........ [981.765459 1422.110577] px -> [RA: 2 47 26.804 Dec: +16 14 54.55]
Resolution ............... 2.128 arcsec/px
Rotation ................. -3.492 deg
Reference system ......... ICRS
Observation start time ... 2023-12-05 04:19:21 UTC
Observation end time ..... 2023-12-05 06:56:56 UTC
Geodetic coordinates ..... 119 04 46 W 37 46 30 N 2357 m
Focal distance ........... 728.84 mm
Pixel size ............... 7.52 um
Field of view ............ 1d 9' 38.7" x 1d 40' 53.1"
Image center ............. RA: 2 47 26.814 Dec: +16 14 54.47 ex: +0.006106 px ey: -0.029337 px
Image bounds:
top-left .............. RA: 2 49 39.042 Dec: +17 07 13.32 ex: -1.463732 px ey: -2.157073 px
top-right ............. RA: 2 44 48.806 Dec: +17 02 59.19 ex: +0.229735 px ey: -1.327215 px
bottom-left ........... RA: 2 50 03.168 Dec: +15 26 43.33 ex: -1.776221 px ey: +0.424499 px
bottom-right .......... RA: 2 45 15.626 Dec: +15 22 30.48 ex: +0.010508 px ey: +0.214690 px