Ive been wanting to get an image like this for many years. But I had doubts that it was possible. Comet 46P/Wirtanen would only be positioned over this peak in the Bighorn Mountains for perhaps 3 nights. The chances of having a bright comet with clear skies and no wind on a December night in Wyoming were very slim. But somehow everything came together at 2:45AM this morning. The temperature hovered around 0°F, but I didnt care.
This image was shot with a Nikon D750 and a Nikon 180mm f2.8 lens. To capture the scene first I shot a 4-frame mosaic of the comet when it was higher in the sky, with 2.5 minute exposures using a tracking mount. Then I turned off the tracking and shot a time-lapse of the comet setting to later use for reference so I could position and align the comet exactly as it appeared behind Loaf Mountain. After the comet set, I shot 2 15-minute images of the mountain. Then I combined all 6 images as accurately as I could.
The comet is about 3X the size of the moon here, but its hard to say exactly since the outer atmosphere is so diffuse. There is a hint of a tail at 12:00.
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