• Optimization Viewing Comet 220P/McNaught with Vespera Telescopes – Part 3

    Continuation of the bright center background gradient investigation and optimization of comet 220P/McNaught observations on Vespera telescopes. When setting up a manual target in Singularity there are three target types (nebula, galaxy, and cluster) for objects that the telescope will stack images. Up to this point, I use nebula as the target type. It is first in the list when selecting the type. For tonight’s observations I created manual targets using nebula, galaxy, or cluster, with either the default or increased gain.

    The results are shown in the unedited, “straight out of the telescope” (SOOT) JPG images below and are available in my PhotoShelter gallery. Click on the i below the slideshow to see the caption with the Manual Target parameters.

    The “cluster” target type is the clear winner, with galaxy coming in second. Other than the Vespera 1 telescope, observations with the nebula mode have the center background gradient problem.


    Vespera 1 Telescope


    Vespera Passengers Telescope


    Vespera 2 Telescope


    Vespera 3 Telescope


    Vespera Pro 1A Telescope


    Vespera Pro 1B Telescope


    Vespera Pro 2 Telescope



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  • Comet 220P/McNaught (29-August-2026)

    After a couple of cloudy nights the ClearNightSky forecast looked good for continuing the observation of comet C220P/McNaught. However, the Waning Gibbous moon is bright (~98% illuminated) making the observation more challenging. I updated the manual target coordinates (RA/Dec: 03h 15m 18s; +09° 05′ 24″) for the comet in Singularity and started an overnight observation plan.

    The comet is fainter, and the tail is more than 0.5° long. According to the Comet Observers Database (COBS) the visual magnitude of the comet continues to dim and was 10.3 for the night.

    The following slideshows include the straight out of the telescope (SOOT) images and images processed with PixInsight. For scale, I’ve included annotated and cropped images (1.0° FOV width). All of the images including the 16-bit RAW/TIFF files are available on my PhotoShelter site (20260826). Click on the i below the slideshow to view the captions with information about each image.


    Vespera 1 Telescope


    Vespera Passengers Telescope


    Vespera 2 Telescope


    Vespera 3 Telescope


    Vespera Pro 1A Telescope


    Vespera Pro 1B Telescope


    Vespera Pro 2 Telescope


    Links to my previous observations of comet 220P/McNaught: 20260606, 20260609, 20260616, 20260810, 20260811, 20260815, 20260816, 20260819, 20260820, 20260824, 20260825, 20260826,


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Comet Comet 220P/McNaught Comet C2025/A6 Comet C2025/R2 Jupiter Moon occultation Optimization PixInsight Singularity Stellarium Stellina Telescope time-lapse Topaz Photo Vaonis Vespera Vespera Classic Vespera II Vespera III Vespera Passengers Vespera Pro Vespera Pro 2


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