Comet Machholz (C/2004 Q2)
Discovered just this past summer, Comet Machholz continues to brighten toward being visible with the unaided eye in both the northern and southern hemispheres. This image was taken at the Kitt Peak Visitor Center Observatory on December 11, 2004.
Comments:
I took some snapshots on the night of Dec 15/16:<br><br>http://gamesforone.com/stars/images/machholz-12-16-04.jpg<br><br>http://gamesforone.com/stars/images/machholz-gray.jpg<br><br>That's about the best I could do with my equipment. I don't have a guided setup yet.<br><br>I did capture a hint of the ion tail.<br><br>---<br>Michael McCulloch
I hope this isn't a stupid question. The photo of Comet Machholz shown here from Kitt Peak was supposedly taken with a Televue refractor. Why do there appear to be diffraction spikes around several stars? Could it be a CCD artifact? (I don't have any CCD imaging experience).
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