[BAA Comets] 96P Macholtz

[Nick James]

Denis/all,

I did eventually get 96P last night. It was a battle between sky 
brightness and local rooftops. In the end I managed to get it on a stack 
of 20s frames taken around 21:50 UT when the comet was at around 7 deg 
up (azimuth 313) and the Sun was 12 deg down. I used a Megrez 72 and 
Canon EOS550D and have the coma but no obvious tail.

The image is here:

http://www.nickdjames.com/Media/albums/Astronomy/Comets/96p_20120724_ndj.jpg

I'll have a go again tonight if it is clear and will use a cooled camera 
rather than the EOS.

An interesting preparation for 2011 L4 next year.

Nick.