C/2004 Q2 Machholz

2004 Q2 Machholz 30 December 2004

Subject:	Comet C/2004 Q2 Machholz, 30-December-2004
Telescope:	Takahashi FSQ-106n Refractor f/5
Mount:	Losmandy G-11
Imager:	SBIG ST-8e non-ABG
Image Details:	Both images are from the same data set. The total data consists of 5 one-minute integrations each in clear, red, green, and blue. The individual colors were then summed and combined using the comet's nucleus as the reference for alignment. The result is a sharp image of the comet but with star trailing. Also, there was no attempt to do any color balancing in this image, so the result is rather heavy in the blue. I like this image, because it displays the faint tail structure. The second image uses the same data. Each color was combined using MaxImDL, but instead of summing, a Sigma Clip was used to insure that only the comet was visible. The stars are effectively removed. The result is a set of three images: red, green, blue, and clear without any stars. The RGB is combined to make a master RGB color image without stars. ALL of the images are then combined to make a master shot with just stars (all aligned, of course on the stars this time). The three images are brought into Adobe Photoshop and stacked as RGB, Lum, and Stars. The bright comet head in the stars image was masked out. The result is a relatively good looking shot of the comet against an accurate starfield.

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