Comet Lee (C/1999 H1) 20 Nov 99

This is the last image I captured of Comet Lee.  By 20 Nov 99, the motion of the comet had slowed considerably, allowing individual six minute exposures to be combined into one equivalent exposure of 22 minutes.   The brightness parameters for Comet Lee indicate that the comet should have been at magnitude 12.1 when these images  were taken.  However, comparison with the stars in the images indicates that the comet was probably dimmer than magnitude 16.   Thus, the comet was approaching the limit of my 8" SCT from my suburban and light polluted location  20 miles west of Washington DC USA.  Click here to go back.