OASI: C/2013 US10

Orwell Astronomical Society (Ipswich)

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Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina), 09 December 2015 - 15 January 2016

Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina) is an Oort Cloud comet discovered on 31 October 2013 by the Catalina Sky Survey using a 0.68 m Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope. (Its unusual designation, US10, stems from the fact that it was initially thought to be an asteroid in a periodic orbit.)

David Murton captured the following images during December 2015 - January 2016:

09 December 2015. Skywatcher 200PDS on NEQ6 mount with a Canon 60Da camera.
18 December 2015. William Optics ZS71ED 71 mm refractor and Canon 60Da camera on NEQ6 mount. Five frames at 180 s at ISO 800 and 1600. Stacked in DSS. The comet was at relatively low altitude and the lights of Felixstowe Docks reflecting off haze close to the horizon reduced the contrast of the image.
21 December 2015, 05:34 UT. William Optics ZS71ED 71 mm refractor and Canon 60Da camera on NEQ6 mount. Single frame, ISO 1600, 60 s exposure. Taken between clouds.
21 December 2015, 05:35 UT. Single frame, ISO 1600, 70 s exposure. Equipment as previous image.
23 December 2015. Skywatcher 200PDS on NEQ6 mount with a Canon 60Da camera. The image is compromised by high level cloud, manifest as blooming - unfortunately, attempts to remove it by image processing also remove the tail of the comet!
23 December 2015. William Optics ZS71ED 71 mm refractor and Canon 60Da camera on NEQ6 mount. Just like the previous image, this one suffers from blooming.
15 January 2016. William Optics ZS71ED 71 mm refractor and Canon 1100D camera on NEQ6 mount. Stack of seven 180 s exposures at ISO 1600. Galaxy M101 is in the frame along with the comet.

David Murton