Comet NEAT   C/2001 Q4

Comet Path
Comet NEAT is neat, but in this case NEAT stands for Near Earth Asteroid Tracking.   This program is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.   NEAT cameras use 1.2-m (48") telescopes to find Near-Earth objects (NEOs), both Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and comets.  For this comet, S. H. Pravdo, E. F. Helin, and K. J. Lawrence (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) announced that the 1.2-m Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory (California, USA) had found it on 2001 August 24.40 in the course of the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program.  This comet, NEAT C/2001 Q4,  is visible from the northern hemisphere during the summer of 2004.  The chart above shows where to find it at 9PM EDT.  The position markers start on 7 May 2004 and continue for 50 days.  The light blue line is the position of the horizon.   You can obtain other data on the comet from Gary Kronk's Comet & Meteor Shower Page and the Sky & Telescopes Comet Viewing Page.  

 
 
 
 
 

Image with star trails

This image shows the comet as comets normally appear in astro images, when the telescope tracks the moving comet and the stars appear to trail.  The comet was near the horizon and surrounded by Washington DC light pollution, but I was still able to see it with binoculars.  The STAR 2000 tracked it until it reached the horizon.  

Scope:  8" LX 200 SCT
MX - 5C CCD & STAR 2000 w/ IDAS LPR filter.  The STAR 2000 tracked the comet and trailed the stars.
Focal Ratio:  f3.3
Exposure:  Two 10 min and one 5 min exposures combined.

Image with no star trails

This is the same image of the comet as above, but I used special processing techniques (described on the larger image page) to remove the star trails and re-insert the star background.  Click here for a larger image.

 Scope:  8" LX 200 SCT
MX - 5C CCD & STAR 2000 w/ IDAS LPR filter.
Focal Ratio:  f3.3
Exposure:  Two 10 min  and one 5 min exposures combined.

Comet NEAT C/2001 Q4

A week later Comet NEAT was much higher in the sky and I was able to capture a little more of the coma.  Wash DC light pollution still masks the dim areas.  Click here for a larger image.

 Scope:  8" LX 200 SCT
MX - 5C CCD & STAR 2000 w/ IDAS LPR filter.  
Focal Ratio:  f3.3
Exposure:  Four 5 min exposures for comet; six 30 sec exposures for stars
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