2004q2 20050205 2330 mjaeger

20 years ago, C/2004 Q2, discovered by Don Machholz, was clearly visible to the naked eye. In the course of processing my archive, this image from February 5, 2005 has been reprocessed with modern software. It is amazing how much more detail can now be seen. 
Twenty years ago was the time when many amateurs switched from analog to digital technology. Back then, most affordable CCD cameras were only equipped with small sensors. There were also no commercially available fast astrographs. That's why I experimented with an old 8"/f-1.5 Celestron Schmidt camera from the 1980s. At that time, I placed an SXV-H9 with 1392 x 1040 x 6.45uM pixels in the tube. Due to the curved image field plane, larger chips were pointless.   
The data: 
C/2004 Q2 Machholz 2005 feb. 5 23.30 UT 3x180sec 1x1 bin RGB 80/80/80sec 8"/f-1.5 and SXV-H9