A comet photographer has captured a spectacular image showing Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and the Andromeda Galaxy together in the night sky.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is currently on every comet-chaser’s lips, and many have been out at night photographing the celestial visitor and its long tail.
José J. Chambó is a name known to many comet observers due to the prolific nature of his cometographic endeavours, capturing both lesser-known comets and those that make the headlines such as 12P/Pons-Brooks.
Want to capture it yourself? Read our guide on how to photograph a comet
Capturing the comet
12P/Pons-Brooks began March 2024 in the Andromeda constellation and is now heading into Pisces.
One particular conjunction that had astrophotographers licking their lips at the start of the month was the prospect of capturing Pons-Brooks near the Andromeda Galaxy.
And José has managed just that.
Of course, Pons-Brooks isn’t actually near the Andromeda Galaxy: it just appears that way from our perspective on Earth.
The comet orbits our Sun, whereas the Andromeda Galaxy is about 2.5 million lightyears away.
José captured his image of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks and the Andromeda Galaxy on 12 March 2024 at 19:41 UTC from Sierra de Enguera, Valencia, Spain.
He says: “I captured the comet when it offered us a beautiful conjunction with the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) within a wide starry field about 15 degrees wide.
“The comet, with a brightness of magnitude 5.5, showed a bluish ionic tail of at least 6 degrees in length.”
Acquisition details
- Camera: Canon EOS 6D
- Lens: Samyang F2.0/135mm
- Mount: Meade LXD-75
- Exposure: 40 min. (40×60 sec. at ISO 800)
- Processing: PixInsight
You can see more of José’s work via his website www.cometografia.es.