2024-10 Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas

Here are a couple of shots that I've gotten of Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas. One I took on the 13th and the other the 14th.

This one didn't get as bright as I ( and many others ) was hoping for. I ended up using my camera to finally locate it in the sky since it was just barely a naked eye object. By barely I mean I didn't see it but my neighbors young teen daughter said she could just make it out. The comet is located in the WSW portion of the sky and will likely dim over the next few nights that it is visible. Last night it was almost dead center between Venus and Arcturus. I started looking for it around 7:30pm. Venus should be hard to miss in the SW portion of the sky, Arcturus which is a orange/red star, should start showing up next just north of directly west. The comet will start showing just a little later but will be slightly higher than dead center between those two ( Venus and Arcturus ).

As I mentioned, I used my camera to get the final location of the comet then I pointed my binoculars at it once I got it located. I know some smartphones can also capture it if they can take decent low light pics. A tripod should be used when taking a pic... my shots were between 3 seconds and 13 seconds long depending on how dark it was.

Here is a star map for tonight at around 7:30pm. How close to the horizon for your location will depend on your latitude but this should get you close and you can adjust based on the locations of Venus and Arcturus in your sky.

2024-10-15 Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas

Thanks for sharing, Randy. From our location and the surrounding It's hard to see, so your pics are wonderful to view

D.O.G. said:

Thanks for sharing, Randy. From our location and the surrounding It's hard to see, so your pics are wonderful to view

Click to expand...

While my neighbor's daughter saw it on the first night we watched... I didn't see it with my naked eyes until tonight. My cousin even captured it with his iPhone although I'm not sure if he is home or out and about somewhere. I think he had to at least be somewhere in the northern hemisphere or wouldn't have gotten the shot .. lolol

2024-10-16 Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas

I was going to ask, but I should've known.
Looking good Randy! A friend of mine has taking many shots from west side. Nice shots too. I just can't figure out how to capture them from his emails and send along. As for me, I should've practiced more with my new camera. When I was out there last night, I somehow messed up a setting and I got nothing,DOE!! Anyway that's what I'm doing now. I hope I get another chance after this killer moon.
Good luck all!.... Keep shooting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did take a pic last night of the comet ( on the 17th ) ... it just didn't turn out as bright as the previous night so there was no reason to share it. The Moon didn't interfere with the image, it's on the other side of the sky.

The apparent brightness is determined some by the comet and some by the viewing conditions... things like humidity, clouds and temperature also come into play. Of course time of the night matters as well. I do like seeing the blues and other colors seen at dusk, but they compromise the contrast of the comet against the sky background. I've seen pretty nice smartphone pics posted by others also... they aren't as nice as a DSLR but still enjoyable. The quality of the sensor and the settings your camera has will determine how good the shot can come out.

I set my camera to ISO 400 at F 5.0 with a focal length of 68mm ( on my 55-200mm lens ) on manual settings with 2 - 13 second exposures. Just after dusk, I needed the lower 2-ish second shots... where after it got dark I went up to the 13 second time but my favorite was around 10 second exposures.

2024-10-18 Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas

Another comet shot but with a different goal in mind. I wanted to have some of the dusk colors in it and hopefully still see the comet about as bright as before. This has a downside since it requires a longer exposure... longer star trails come with it also.

Hi all,,, I finally got this cool shot of comet A3,, bla, bla bla, sorted out.
From my friend Ort and right after I left the area.
The brightness to the lower left is a big party or luau or something. Happy Birthday...............
Barbers Point lighthouse Beach Park, Oahu...

Too cool. I wish I was close enough to see comets, Aurora or little green/gray aliens lol. Thanks for sharing, Rob. You too Randy for these awesome pictures