Comet C/2015 V2 Johnson: an image (27 Apr. 2017)

Comet C/2015 V2 Johnson is on its way to perihelion, which it will reach next 12 June. For many weeks, this comet, while relatively bright, showed only a dusty tail, but now it proudly exhibits a nice ion one.

Comet C/2015 V2 Johnson: 27 Apr. 2017

Comet C/2015 V2 Johnson: 27 Apr. 2017

The image above comes from the average of ten, 120-seconds exposures, unfiltered, remotely taken with the 16″-f/3.75 Tenagra III (“Pearl”) robotic unit part of Tenagra Observatories in Arizona. The telescope tracked the apparent motion of the comet. The imaging camera is based on the KAF-16801 CCD. The resulting image scale is 2.4″/pixel. Further details are available on the image itself. South is up, west  on the left. A nice ion tail is now visible, as well as a dusty one.

The observatory is placed at 1300 meters above the sea level, in the Sonoran desert, providing one of the best skies in the world. This image was taken as part of  a cooperation between the Virtual Telescope Project and Tenagra Observatories, Ltd., which will be announced soon.

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