Comet 2P/Encke: an image (21 Feb. 2017)
Comet 2P/Encke is a periodic comet, showing the shortest orbital period (3.3 years) known among the brightest objects of its kind. It will reach its next perihelion on 10 Mar. 2017.
Comet 2P/Encke: 21 Feb. 2017
The image above comes from the average of six, 60-seconds exposures, unfiltered, remotely taken with the 16″-f/3.5 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.
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 is the first one coming from a cooperation between the Virtual Telescope Project and Tenagra Observatories, Ltd., which will be announced soon.
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