The green or cyan Comet PanSTARRS passing above the Double Cluster in Perseus on January 25, 2020. This PanSTARRS (one of many!) is C/2017 T2. The star cluster to the left of the comet is NGC 957. The loose cluster in the bottom left corner is Trumpler 2. This is a stack of 8 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 400 with the Canon EOS Ra on the SharpStar HNT150 Hyperbolic Newtonian astrographic reflector at f/2.8.
Comet Wirtanen 46P on December 15, 2018 taken in the blue-sky moonlight, with the first quarter Moon still well up in the southwest, and when the comet was passing near the Pleiades star cluster, Messier 45, in Taurus. Some high cloud and haze was just beginning to move in, thwarting any further efforts to shoot the scene under darker skies later that night after moonset. The comet was nearest to Earth on this weekend, Dec 15-16, 2018. This is a stack of 2 x 90-second exposures aligned on the stars, and 2 x 30-second exposures aligned on the comet and blended in for the core of the comet coma to reduce its intensity and size. All with the 200mm Canon L lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800. Lens focused with the Bhatinov mask. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools action, for photogenic effect. They look pretty!
Comet Wirtanen 46P with the star clusters of Taurus: the Pleiades (M45) at top, the Hyades with yellow Aldebaran at lower left, and NGC 1647 at far left. The comet was nearly at its closest point to Earth and at its brightest. This is a stack of 6 x 1-minute exposures with the Rokinon 85mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 1600, on the Star Adventurer tracker, taken December 14/15 as the skies cleared in the Chinook winds of southern Alberta. Star glows added with Orton effect in Luminar.
