David Mathre Photography

Astrophotography

  • Comet 220P/McNaught (10-August-2026)

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    David Mathre
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    The SpaceWeather site had a note that Comet 220P/McNaught had a 2nd outburst and brightened ca. 600-fold on 05-August. My last observation of the comet was on 16-June when its magnitude was 12.4. The overnight skies here have been cloudy every night since the outburst was announced. ClearDarkSky finally forecasted good viewing conditions. Based on the RA/Dec coordinates (02h 46m 51s; +09° 32′ 31″) from Stellarium, the comet would be visible by 03:00.

    I programed the comet’s position into the Vaonis Singularity application for the Vespera telescopes as a manual target. A little after 03:00 the sky was clear and I had five generations of Vespera telescopes observe comet 220P/McNaught. The comet is brighter and looks different than it did at my last observation (16-June-2026). The unedited SOOT (straight out of the telescope) jpg image, the 16-bit raw/tiff image, and processed images (PixInsight) are available on my PhotoShelter site (20260810).

    According to the Comet Observers Database (COBS) the visual magnitude for this night is +8.2. I missed being able to observe the comet at its maximum magnitude of +6.5. I’ve posted time-lapse videos (180° and 360°) for the viewing conditions of the overnight sky (20260809/10).

    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 (0.5° FOV width). All of the images including the 16-bit RAW/TIFF files are available on my PhotoShelter site (20260810). Click on the i below the slideshow to view the image captions.

    Vespera 1

    Vespera 2

    Vespera 3

    Vespera Pro 1

    Vespera Pro 2

    In the unprocessed jpg images the center of the image has a brighter background. It is more noticeable in the Vespera 3 and Vespera Pro 2 images. Processing the images with PixInsight — Gradient Correction flattened the background; Spectrophotometric Color Correction provided white balance; and NoiseXterminator removed the noise).

    Links to my previous observations of comet 220P/McNaught: 20260606, 20260609, 20260616

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  • Comet C2025/A6 Lemmon (04-October-2025)

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    David Mathre
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    I received a text notification from the folks at Vaonis that Comet C2025/A6 Lemmon would be visible in the early morning sky. I looked up the RA/Dec coordinates for the comet using Stellarium and programed them into targets for my Stellina, Vespera Classic, Vespera II, and Vespera Pro telescopes. The RA/Dec coordinates for 04:00 were 10h02m45s +41°05’14” which would be about 23° above the horizon to the northeast (near the big dipper). At 04:00 the comet was either blocked or just above the tree line. By 04:30 the comet could be observed by the telescopes.

    Vespera Classic

    The images are composites of 32 10-second images which is just over a 5-minute exposure. This exposure is long enough to see the comet tail. Longer exposures show movement of the comet head relative to the stars. The estimated magnitude of the comet is 13.1 (not yet visible to the unaided eye). The green color of the comet is due to diatomic carbon in the coma absorbing ultraviolet light and re-emitting it as green fluorescence. Note in three of the images a faint satellite trail is visible.

    Vespera II

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About the author

I am a scientist by training (Eckerd College, BSc; Caltech, Ph.D.). I worked for 27 years as a Chemist in the Pharmaceutical Industry developing processes to manufacture medicines for human and animal health. I now spend my time as a photographer and world traveler. My interests include the natural world, wildlife, landscapes, sky, and seascapes, travel, and astrophotography. I look for unique ways of viewing the world and presenting my images. I have traveled to over 55 countries in six continents, often on Semester at Sea voyages. While at home in New Jersey, I spend time observing and photographing the plants and animals while expanding a wildflower garden/meadow in the backyard. When the sky is clear, I have telescopes viewing the night sky.

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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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