548 replies to this topic

[tea_bird]

It was a beautiful albeit windy morning today, unfortunately there were some clouds on the horizon which limited my view. Tail looks quite substantial through the 85mm lens.

  Polish_20241003_060112626.jpg

Whoa, that tail *is* hefty. Nice shot.

[adlibitum]

After an unsuccessful attempt on September 27, I observed Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) for the first time this morning October 3 from a location just north of San Francisco CA, USA, latitude 38 degrees N. Using 10x42 binoculars I found it at 610am PDT (UTC 1310) at an altitude of 1.7 degrees, according to sky safari. The coma was impressively bright at that low altitude, very condensed, with a tail only visible for about half a degree. Magnitude was difficult to estimate, Regulus at m1.4 was some 25 degrees higher in a much darker sky. I tried defocusing Regulus to compare to the comet, but it seemed an unreliable measurement - about all I can say is that it's possible they were roughly similar.

As the comet rose an interesting effect was observed. Leaving the low muck near the horizon, it reached some clearer sky, and the tail became noticeably more visible, out to a degree or more. But at the same time, the Sun was rising and the sky getting brighter so that the effect was short lived, about a minute or less.

 

The coma and nearby tail were wider than I expected based on some of the photographs I've been seeing. I'm sure this is because images show a very long tail of many degrees which makes the coma seem proportionally narrower. Since all I could see was the coma itself and a bit of the tail, it struck me as broader than I anticipated. I was not able to see the comet at any time naked eye.

 

By 620am the tail had all but faded in the growing light and by 625 or about  half way between nautical and civil dawn I stopped observing, the coma still visible but fading. Looking forward to what this comet may bring in the evening sky!

Edited by adlibitum, 03 October 2024 - 10:53 AM.

[drfuzzy]

I need help with Siril, specifically trying to stack images of Comet A3 with morning glow obscuring the stars it needs to do registration.

I've tried the "Relax PSF checks" option, and it still fails.

Here's a single frame with clarity bumped in Lightroom...

I am very new to Siril, but I have searched for "Siril no stars" and found nothing helpful, other than the Relax PSF option.

I've got about 60 frames to stack...

Date: October 2, 2024 at 6:11:19am MDT (UTC-6)
Location: Muley Point, Utah, USA (37.237N, 109.980W)
EXIF: Canon 5d3, EF 300mm f/4.0L, ISO 1600, f4, 10 seconds


This is the result... beautiful art, but not helpful:



This was the output of 40 frames where the comet had risen enough to get the trees out of the frame.

Edited by drfuzzy, 03 October 2024 - 01:10 PM.

[Tom Laskowski]

I tried for the third morning in a row and had no success. I had a beautifully clear sky overnight and found a great location south of town with a great horizon, but somehow I ended up having a low cloud layer right where the comet was and I did not see it.

 

I'll wait until it appears in the evening sky. 

[emh52]

It is an awesome show-  this is from Easter Island on the day of the eclipse

 

https://flic.kr/p/2qk9nhr

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[emh52]

Another view a few minutes earlier when the sky was still mostly dark, hence the less visible Moai, but the comet was bright

 

Awesome is what I think, and too bad I cannot be there to capture in the west at Sunset because it is going to be more than awesome

But it will have to be my backyard in the USA instead that is just more ordinary than Easter Island.

 

https://flic.kr/p/2qkdvFv

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Edited by emh52, 04 October 2024 - 07:20 AM.

[Kitfox]

APOD ^^^^

[Maranatha]

Another view a few minutes earlier when the sky was still mostly dark, hence the less visible Moai, but the comet was bright

 

Awesome is what I think, and too bad I cannot be there to capture in the west at Sunset because it is going to be more than awesome

But it will have to be my backyard in the USA instead that is just more ordinary than Easter Island.

 

https://flic.kr/p/2qkdvFv

One of the most awesome pics Ive seen on CN. Thanks!

Edited by Maranatha, 04 October 2024 - 05:54 PM.

[R Botero]

Another view a few minutes earlier when the sky was still mostly dark, hence the less visible Moai, but the comet was bright

 

Awesome is what I think, and too bad I cannot be there to capture in the west at Sunset because it is going to be more than awesome

But it will have to be my backyard in the USA instead that is just more ordinary than Easter Island.

 

https://flic.kr/p/2qkdvFv

Fantastic shot!  What a happy coincidence

 

Roberto

[Exeligmos]

Not sure if this has been posted yet:

 

https://skyandtelesc...is-yet-to-come/

[Those Who Squirm!]

I think the chances for a standout show are mid October when it re-emerges in the evening sky. Bob King had a good talk from last weekend and I screen grabbed the slide with chart at minute 37 as a good reference. October 14 has it as 0.2 predicted magnitude and for Austin 10 degrees above horizon 45 minutes after sunset.

https://youtu.be/a2O...?feature=shared

Sounds like fun.

Even if it turns out to be comparatively dim it can still make for good photos, and that's mainly what I care about.

I won't say I struggled, but I had look carefully to see PANNSTARS with my unaided eyes, but I still got some very good photos with a tripod, a DSLR, and a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

Sent from my SM-A156U using Tapatalk

[Nankins]

How bright do you all think this could get, based on the way you all have observed the brightening so far? I navy those of you who are able to see the tail with the naked eye...

[emflocater]

Most recent comet updates via CDC has the comet at magnitude 2.4. After the 10th of October, each day after the Comet according to CDC will get dimmer by 1/10 of a magnitude. Hopefully there could be, as with any comet, a burst out of jets of dust and gas that could brighten the comet at any time. Fingers crossed!

 

Cheers

Don

[JimFR]

Pop over to the SOHO image site (LASCO 3 I think is the satellite), or the NOAA Space Weather site and view the vid.  Is that C/2023 A3 entering the image from the right?

 

https://soho.nascom....ealtime/c3/512/

 

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov

[wargrafix]

Pop over to the SOHO image site (LASCO 3 I think is the satellite), or the NOAA Space Weather site and view the vid. Is that C/2023 A3 entering the image from the right?

https://soho.nascom....ealtime/c3/512/

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov

Yes it is!!!

[Edward E]

Mercury, to the left of the Sun in the SOHO image, is -1.18 (SkySafari mag), so the comet is at least that bright, looks more like -2 something, in the latest image.  IF it brightens more the next few days, it will be a daytime naked eye comet.  Keep the Sun behind a building, always protect your vision (PSA).

[GianlucaG]

Wow, that's really amazing to see that in SOHO images, thanks for share!

[Mirzam]

We had good local transparency in northern Virginia this morning.  I tried placing the Sun behind the peak of my roof but had no success spotting the comet.  This was using 10x42 Canon binoculars that were focused earlier during darkness. The comet should have been almost directly above the Sun at 8:00 am, about 5 degrees away.

 

JimC

[LoudounStargazer22]

We had good local transparency in northern Virginia this morning.  I tried placing the Sun behind the peak of my roof but had no success spotting the comet.  This was using 10x42 Canon binoculars that were focused earlier during darkness. The comet should have been almost directly above the Sun at 8:00 am, about 5 degrees away.

 

JimC

I'm located very close to you and will be giving it a shot today. Fingers crossed 

[Starhunter249]

At sunset today, the comet "might" be barely visible after sundown. According to stellarium at my location, it is located 4 degrees from the horizon but I have a short 10 minute window before C/2023 A3 goes below the horizon.

[RMay]

We are fortunate to have a wonderfully low eastern horizon, and a not-so-bad western view. Twice a year for about 30 days, the sunset is visible from our backyard, and it’s happening now; this might make for a possible view tonight, although I wasn’t thinking it would be possible. Here’s what it will look like from our backyard at 6:30pm tonight.

 

I’ll post any results that are worth sharing.

 

Ron

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[Starhunter249]

Attempted to view comet after sunset. Could not detect anything due to extreme amount of haze in horizon.

[RMay]

Attempted to view comet after sunset. Could not detect anything due to extreme amount of haze in horizon.

Clouds here, too…

Will try again tonight (and tomorrow…).

Ron

[thedude_01]

I unfortunately have a view of Mount Elbert and Mount Massive to the west of me, so that completely blocks the horizon so need to travel south towards the dunes / san louis valley to catch a good view of it next few days I'm thinking. Or I could just blow up the mountains.

[brentwood]

I unfortunately have a view of Mount Elbert and Mount Massive to the west of me, so that completely blocks the horizon so need to travel south towards the dunes / san louis valley to catch a good view of it next few days I'm thinking. Or I could just blow up the mountains.

Do you have to be able to see the actual horizon to be able to see the comet? Wouldn't the Sun setting below a mountain give the same effect?