Sky this Week

Below is an image of comet 177P/Barnard which is currently located in constellation Hercules, midway between  stars Sarin (delta) and Kornephoris (beta).  See “SkyHound” map. This comet has orbital period of 120 years and was last seen in 1889. Its position was recently recovered at the end of June.

An animated version showing comet movement is also available.

Images acquired with Celestron Nexstar11 telescope, Meade F3.3 focal reducer, and Astrovid Stellacam2 video camera. Stellacam2 gain 9/14, medium gamma, integrate 256 frames, 15 minutes of video processed with ImagePlus, Registax3, and Photoshop Elements2. Sky was clear, temperature was 68°F, humidity 40%, absolutely no wind, transparency very good, and turbulence about 6/10.