Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
- Thread starter Dawg Pics
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Bob Blaylock
Senior Member
Here's a shot that I got just a few hours ago.
My ancient (c. 1972) 50mm ƒ/1.4 NIKKOR-S mounted on my D3200; eight seconds at ƒ/1.4, ISO 200.
Not only did I get the comet, but a couple of meteors as well, in this shot.
About 19:45 PDT, at a location oddly-named El Camino de Jerry.
My ancient (c. 1972) 50mm ƒ/1.4 NIKKOR-S mounted on my D3200; eight seconds at ƒ/1.4, ISO 200.
Not only did I get the comet, but a couple of meteors as well, in this shot.
About 19:45 PDT, at a location oddly-named El Camino de Jerry.
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
That is great. I think I'll pull out my 50mm as well and give it a try.
I have airplane traffic in the area.
Beautiful pics! I just managed to take one through my binoculars with my cell phone and it was surprisingly good. I'm just glad that the clouds haven't rolled in and I was able to see this because I really don't know where I'll be in 80,000 years, so I figured I better try to see it tonight! 
Afterglow967
New member
Did you just capture a UFO in this shot also? To the right of the comet? That's an amazing shot.
Clovishound
Senior Member
I had a neighbor a couple streets over that was talking about seeing the comet in a break in the trees night before last. I waited until after dark and loaded up my camera and tripod and went to take some pictures. FYI, I'm not an astronomy photography. I took a handful of pictures at different settings. I began to have my suspicions while shooting, but was convinced once I got home and looked at the images on the computer.
Yep,
Venus
I think I need to stick to nature and macro photography. OK, I'll make one exception. Later this month the Carolina Nature Photographer's Association will have an outing at Folly Beach to photograph the milky way. I'll be with a few that know what they are doing, so I'll give it a shot.
Yep,
Venus
I think I need to stick to nature and macro photography. OK, I'll make one exception. Later this month the Carolina Nature Photographer's Association will have an outing at Folly Beach to photograph the milky way. I'll be with a few that know what they are doing, so I'll give it a shot.
Clovishound
Senior Member
Great shot. Did you think about removing the wires near the horizon? Photoshop has a new remove distractions feature that will automatically detect and delete cables and wires. I've tried it a couple times, and it has worked really well, with just a couple of clicks. I know some prefer to leave the scene as shot, but others prefer to clean up distractions post processing.
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
You were aiming too low and too far south. The comet started out almost due west and low in the sky, but each night it is getting higher and going south west. Aim west, young man.
Anyway, if you use a wide angle lens and point it between Venus and West, you will probably see it. I have no idea what the tree situation is there, though. Once you get it in the center of frame, then change to a zoom.
Clovishound
Senior Member
Thanks, I would go out and try tonight, but we have our monthly Carolina Nature Photographer's Association meeting.
If I am reading the "map" correctly, I may have the area in my photo. Correct me if I am wrong. I looks like the star to the right of Venus and a little above is Arcturus. If not, I have my scale totally screwed up. If that is Arcturus, then the comet should be there in the photo I posted. Unfortunately, there is a lot of light pollution in this location and direction.
If I am reading the "map" correctly, I may have the area in my photo. Correct me if I am wrong. I looks like the star to the right of Venus and a little above is Arcturus. If not, I have my scale totally screwed up. If that is Arcturus, then the comet should be there in the photo I posted. Unfortunately, there is a lot of light pollution in this location and direction.
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
That isn't Arcturus. Arcturus is rising north of west. It is a large, bright star.
I did a search to find an image with Venus in it. This was the position of the comet to Venus on the 14th. Flickr Comet Image
The comet is tracking to the southwest but also getting higher in the sky. It is also getting dimmer.
I saw a post on FB from a lady in another country who took an image yesterday. The comet was just below those 2 sets of small parallel stars at the top of the image I linked.
Have fun shooting the Milky Way. There are lots of star clusters to shoot, which can be fun. I have a star tracker now, I plan on shooting some star clusters for practice. You know, easy targets.
BF Hammer
Senior Member
I am using the phone to view Clovis, but Venus is lower on the horizon than the comet. The comet is above and left of the sun as it sets. It is moving further from the sun and dimming each day. But looking at stellarium I believe the comet was way out of your frame up and to the right.
Edit: I will have my own photo(s) to share tomorrow night. Had a nice evening lakeside with some other photographers I met just tonight.
Edit: I will have my own photo(s) to share tomorrow night. Had a nice evening lakeside with some other photographers I met just tonight.
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Clovishound
Senior Member
I appreciate the help. I will go out tomorrow night and see if I can spot it, weather and trees permitting.
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
It has dimmed a good bit. I had a difficult time locating it with my binoculars from my front yard, which is very light polluted. I have an improperly hooded LED street light right there. We have a lot of dust in the air as well thanks to the winds. You probably need to dark adapt your eyes for a good 30 minutes to help see it.
It was too low for me to see it from my back yard, so I gave it a shot from my driveway, which was really dumb because of the blinding street light. An exercise in futility. I might walk down the street and take a look.
BF Hammer
Senior Member
I never saw the comet with my eyes on the 17th, but was able to locate it in the camera viewfinder of my Z5. Very light-polluted scene, but the spot was full of other astrophotographers also. We apparently all shared the same idea.
First image is an exposure stack with an extra layer of foreground image that was not as badly overexposed. Second image is a single frame zoomed to 200mm. I'm guessing a StarLink is shooting by there in the middle. There was a cluster of them ruining photos.
First image is an exposure stack with an extra layer of foreground image that was not as badly overexposed. Second image is a single frame zoomed to 200mm. I'm guessing a StarLink is shooting by there in the middle. There was a cluster of them ruining photos.
Dawg Pics
Senior Member
Yeah, I had a bunch of streaks in my images too. I don't know what was causing them, but good chance it was StarLink satellites.
Bob Blaylock
Senior Member
I'm pretty sure that's an aircraft. It was an eight-second exposure, so that's how far it flew across the scene in that time, with a blinking red light.
Similar to what @Clovishound captured in this post.
BF Hammer
Senior Member
@Afterglow967 The red linear dots are exactly what airplanes make with their marker lights as they fly through a multi-second exposure. The 2 white streaks that are prominent should be satellites, likely Starlinks. Meteors when they appear have a more "fuzzy" quality with a fade-in and fade-out at the ends if the entirety is captured.
Clovishound
Senior Member
Well, I just got back from the milky way outing with the CNPA. I was rather disappointed with the milky way I got. Not terribly obvious. I think I got the comet, though. I was using a 24mm focal length so it's not terribly large. Look in the lower right hand section.
BF Hammer
Senior Member
That's a comet all right there @Clovishound .
Not a bad try at the Milky Way either. I am guessing no exposure stack?
Not a bad try at the Milky Way either. I am guessing no exposure stack?
Clovishound
Senior Member
No. I was pretty busy slapping the gnats, helping my daughter, and trying to figure out the basics to do an HDR. I should have. Is that what would have given me a clear image of the milky way?