Comet 24P dives into the Beehive

A faint comet sneaks across M44 under moonlight this month. Can you catch it?

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Comet 24P/Schaumasse is a faint comet, but definitely within reach of amateur imagers. It's really well placed on 7-11 November, passing in front of the Beehive Cluster, M44 (read more on page 47).

But there are two challenges. First, 24P is expected to be dim during November, shining at mag. +14.3 or so. That's manageable for deep-sky setups, but then there's the second problem: the Moon. During the comet's passage, the Moon lies west of M44 and will be just past a perigee full phase, meaning it'll be bigger and brighter than average. Ouch!

Don't be put off though. Any attempt to image the comet offers good practice for later weeks, when 24P becomes brighter and the Moon moves out of the way. The fact that M44 is easy to see will at least guarantee that you have the right patch of sky. The hard bit will be getting any image of the comet itself. Don't expect to grab a 'pretty' shot - your goal will be to simply capture something.

Smart scopes should locate M44 easily, even with the Moon's glare. Simply search for the cluster, instruct the telescope to locate it and start imaging.

But then comes the fun part, because however simple that process is, the bright Moon will likely wash out the comet. Any post-capture editing skills you've learned will come to the fore to extract any faint signature of 24P within the cluster.

Next stop: Leo's Sickle