Capturing comet PanSTARRS alongside Sh2-112 and Sh2-115

Just a day before the major aurora event, I was photographing the Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN) around Bode's Galaxy (M81) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82). There wasn't much else to capture in the sky at this time of year, so I was focused on these familiar targets. Around 2 AM, I noticed the Milky Way rising in the northeast and decided to explore what else might be visible. That's when I spotted the comet PanSTARRS. I wondered if it would be worth trying to capture it. The background looked promising, so I decided to give it a shot.

Although I live in a Bortle 4-5 area, our northern sky is remarkably dark. There's a small town nearby, but beyond that, there's nothing for more than 100 miles. In fact, there's virtually nothing until you reach the North Pole. This isolation provides an excellent opportunity for deep-sky imaging.

This image represents 1 hour and 40 minutes of integration time. It took an entire day to process the data from my monochrome camera. I faced numerous challenges and failed several times during the processing, but the effort was worth it. Despite the obstacles, I'm glad I decided to give it a shot that night. The resulting image turned out to be one of my best captures so far.

Image acquisition details for C/2021 S3 (PanSTARRS) / Sh 2-112 / Sh 2-115

• William Optics Redcat 51 III
• Imaging Cameras: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
• Mounts: ZWO AM5
• Filters: Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 36 mm · ZWO Blue 36 mm · ZWO Green 36 mm · ZWO Luminance 36 mm · ZWO Red 36 mm
• Accessories: ZWO ASIAIR Plus · ZWO EFW 7 x 36mm
   

Software:

• Adobe Photoshop
• Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
• Russell Croman Astrophotography BlurXTerminator
• Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator
• Russell Croman Astrophotography StarXTerminator
   

Acquisition details continued

• Dates: May 10, 2024
• Frames:
  • Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 36 mm: 6×300″(30′)
  • ZWO Blue 36 mm: 5×180″(15′)
  • ZWO Green 36 mm: 5×180″(15′)
  • ZWO Luminance 36 mm: 8×180″(24′)
  • ZWO Red 36 mm: 5×180″(15′)
• Integration: 1h 39′
• Avg. Moon age: 2.57 days
• Avg. Moon phase: 7.27%
• Pixel scale: 3.117 arcsec/pixel
• Orientation: 33.076 degrees
• Field radius: 3.244 degrees
• WCS transformation: thin plate spline
• Resolution: 6218x4176
• File size: 19.1 MB
• Locations: Houghton, Houghton, MI, United States
• Data source: Backyard
   

Comet C/2021 S3 (PanSTARRS)

• RA center: 20h27m24s.26
• DEC center: +47°45′49″.1
• RA (center)20h27m24s.26RA (top/left)20h46m40s.53
• RA (top/right)20h19m24s.40
• RA (bottom/right)20h08m09s.85
• RA (bottom/left)20h34m33s.56
• Dec (center)+47°45′49″.1
• Dec (top/left)+47°42′32″.10
• Dec (top/right)+50°43′40″.3
• Dec (bottom/right)+47°37′08″.8
• Dec (bottom/left)+44°46′13″.5