Re: Comet like Ring nebula, or a planet

Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:27:47 -0600, Greg Crinklaw
<theskyhoundyoureye@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

It is my understanding that this limit is more a practical limit than an actual physical one. Either way, I hereby freely admit that I am splitting hairs. ;-)

Noise is about as fundamental a limit as you can have. You can always
improve your S/N by collecting more signal, of course. And for DSOs that
is possible, although at some point it becomes impractical. But DSOs
are, for the most part, stable for years or more. The problem with a
comet is that it changes, and in the case of an active comet like Holmes
it changes quickly. So if you want high resolution imagery, you need to
be able to collect it quickly, and that means you ideally have a large
aperture, good camera, and dark skies.

That's a good point about it changing quickly. At least with imaging you can work harder to get more detail. Visually, if the moon is up you can stare at it all night and you still aren't going to see it. :-)

Clear skies,
Greg


--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools: http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html
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Comets: http://comets.skyhound.com

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