Comet in a Dark Sky
Taken by Alan Dyer on October 22, 2024 @
near Gleichen, Alberta
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Camera Used: Canon Canon EOS R5
Exposure Time: 58/1
Aperture: f/2.0
ISO: 800
Date Taken: 2024:10:22 22:13:54
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Details:
This is Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, C/2023 A3, in a telephoto lens close-up on October 22, 2024.
The comet was easily visible to the unaided eye in dark skies (and the Moon was not interfering this night), so was about magnitude 4 to 4.5. The tail was visible to the eye, not just the bright coma, so it looked like a comet in the sky, not just a fuzzy star. In binoculars, the tail stretched across the 7º field, similar to the extent recorded here.
A faint anti-tail was still visible in front of the comet, a week after Earth crossed the orbital plane of the comet, though it is more diffuse than a week earlier when it appeared as a sharp spike. The head or coma of the comet displays some of the characteristic cyan color of comets, from diatomic carbon molecules.
Processing brings out the fainter dust tail structure and the asymmetrical tail — it is more extensive and diffuse below the comet than above where there appears to be a sharper edge to the tail and even a dark edge.
This view with a 135mm telephoto has a field of view of 15º by 10º. The comet was in Ophiuchus at this time.
Technical:
This is a stack of 16 x 1-minute exposures, with the RF135mm lens at f/2 and the Canon R5 at ISO 800, on the MSM Nomad tracker. Taken from home in southern Alberta, Canada, latitude 51° N.
Photographer's website:
https://amazingsky.com
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