David Mathre Photography

Astrophotography

The SpaceWeather site had a note that Comet 220P/McNaught had a 2nd outburst and brightened ca. 600-fold on 05-August. Based on the RA/Dec coordinates (02h 46m 51s; +09° 32′ 31″) from Stellarium, the comet would be visible by 03:00. ClearDarkSky forecasted good viewing conditions. I programed the comet’s position into the Vaonis Singularity application as a manual target. A little after 03:00 the sky was clear and I had the Vespera telescopes observe comet 220P/McNaught. The comet was brighter and looked different than it did at my last observation (16-June-2026). The unedited SOOT (straight out of the telescope) jpg and 16-bit raw/tiff files are available in my PhotoShelter site.

Vespera 1

Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 1 Telescope. Composite of 179 exposures (1790 sec).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 1 Telescope. Composite of 179 exposures (1790 sec). Image processed with Pixinsight with added astro grid.
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 1 Telescope. Composite of 67 exposures (670 sec).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 1 Telescope. Composite of 67 exposures (670 sec). Straight out of the telescope image. (FOV 1.46° x 0.81°)

Vespera 2

Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 2 Telescope. Composite of 139 exposures (1390 sec). Image processed with PixInsight (with added astro grid).Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 2 Telescope. Composite of 139 exposures (1390 sec).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 2 Telescope. Composite of 139 exposures (1390 sec). Image processed with PixInsight (with added astro grid).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 2 Telescope. Composite of 139 exposures (1390 sec). Straight out of the telescope image. Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 2 Telescope. Composite of 139 exposures (1390 sec).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 2 Telescope. Composite of 139 exposures (1390 sec). Straight out of the telescope image. FOV (2.23° x 1.15°)

Vespera 3

Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 3 Telescope. Composite of 164 exposures (1640 sec). FOV (2.26° x 1.16°). Image processed with PixInsight (with added astro grid).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 3 Telescope. Composite of 164 exposures (1640 sec). FOV (2.26° x 1.16°). Image processed with PixInsight (with added astro grid).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 3 Telescope. Composite of 164 exposures (1640 sec). FOV (2.26° x 1.16°). Straight out of the camera image.
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera 3 Telescope. Composite of 164 exposures (1640 sec). FOV (2.26° x 1.16°). Straight out of the camera image.

Vespera Pro 1

Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera Pro Telescope. Composite of 133 exposures (1330 sec).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera Pro Telescope. Composite of 133 exposures (1330 sec). Straight out of the camera image. Image processed with PixInsight (with added astro grid). FOV (1.4° x 1.4°).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera Pro Telescope. Composite of 133 exposures (1330 sec).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera Pro Telescope. Composite of 133 exposures (1330 sec). Straight out of the camera image.

Vespera Pro 2

Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera Pro 2 Telescope. Composite of 115 exposures (1550 sec).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera Pro 2 Telescope. Composite of 115 exposures (1550 sec). Image processed with PixInsight (added astro grid). FOV (1.4° x 1.4°)
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera Pro 2 Telescope. Composite of 115 exposures (1550 sec).
Comet 220P/McNaught viewed from my backyard with a Vespera Pro 2 Telescope. Composite of 115 exposures (1550 sec). Straight out of the telescope image.

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