C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) 2023-Aug-23 Dan Bartlett

Comet C/2023 P1 Showing Considerable Activity 2023-08-23. Stacked 44 x 20 seconds this morning under near ideal conditions. Somehow , with the comet dropping in altitude, I've increased the exposure time to 12 minutes. The low altitude and morning twilight are both playing havoc on the star shapes and color. Images are showing an active tail with forks and twisted ribbons. The advancement in activity has been pronounced over only a few days. Stay tuned as it looks like I have friendly weather for the next four mornings.

Observational details:
Backyard setup
scope: C14 D = 356mm; fl =729mm; F# 2
camera: asi 2600mcP
exposure: 44 x20 sec
Seeing: 4/5
Transparency: 9.5/10
Observer: DEBartlett
Location: June Lake, California, USA


Image Details (Starless Version are at full resoution 1.06"/pix):
WCS transformation ....... Thin plate spline
Control points ........... 291
Spline lengths ........... l:291 b:291 X:291 Y:291
Projection ............... Gnomonic
Projection origin ........ [1334.709457 894.208041] px -> [RA: 7 44 25.557 Dec: +21 46 22.34]
Resolution ............... 2.130 arcsec/px
Rotation ................. -2.665 deg
Reference system ......... ICRS
Observation start time ... 2023-08-23 12:03:25 UTC
Observation end time ..... 2023-08-23 12:03:45 UTC
Geodetic coordinates ..... 119 04 46 W 37 46 30 N 2357 m
Focal distance ........... 728.20 mm
Pixel size ............... 7.52 um
Field of view ............ 1d 34' 46.5" x 1d 3' 28.0"
Image center ............. RA: 7 44 25.557 Dec: +21 46 22.34 ex: +0.012755 px ey: -0.010316 px
Image bounds:
top-left .............. RA: 7 47 43.533 Dec: +22 20 04.40 ex: -0.002175 px ey: -0.002708 px
top-right ............. RA: 7 40 54.713 Dec: +22 15 43.42 ex: -0.005383 px ey: -0.005188 px
bottom-left ........... RA: 7 47 55.187 Dec: +21 16 43.60 ex: -0.000473 px ey: +0.000296 px
bottom-right .......... RA: 7 41 09.177 Dec: +21 12 26.69 ex: +0.000129 px ey: -0.000008 px

ASTROBIN image: https://astrob.in/yxk41g/B/