Last chance to see it, find it and photograph it

Comet Tsuchenshan-Atlas was actually discovered in 2023 by researchers at China's Tsuchinshan Observatory in collaboration with the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Alert System's (ATLAS) Emergency Group – which also gave rise to its nickname.

This is the first time in 80,000 years that a comet exceeds Earth's orbit. The comet is about one to two kilometers across, and as it moves across our sky we can see it approaching our sun, releasing gases and material into its outer atmosphere and creating what we see as an elongated comet tail.

How to see C/2023 A3 Tuchinshan-ATLAS

The comet was first seen with the naked eye on September 25, with a magnitude of 3.2, meaning it could be photographed in parts of Europe about an hour before sunrise – including from Portugal and Malta. As for Sweden, it was more difficult because of the sunlight. At the bottom of the article, you will find smart tips for taking photos of the comet with your camera.

Now is the second and much better chance to see Comet Tsuchenshan-Atlas – perhaps even with the naked eye – as it is currently the closest to Earth as it begins its journey away from us and the Sun. It is impossible to know in advance the chance of seeing it with the naked eye because it is difficult to calculate how bright it will be — much depends on how the comet is affected by the Sun and solar wind — and whether the comet's nucleus will survive without breaking into pieces.

The best time to see the comet is stated to be between October 12 and October 30 after sunset, around 7 p.m., but if conditions are ideal, it can actually be seen during the evening of October 11 in the weaker light of sunset directly above the surface of the Sun. Horizon.

– October 12 to 30: Look to the west/southwest after sunset

In the images below, you can see the position, height and direction in the sky during certain dates in this period, around 19.30 pm:

At the beginning of the period:

The advantage of searching for the comet early in this period is that it is brighter, but at the expense of its proximity to the horizon, and it may be more difficult to see it due to the glare of the sun at twilight.

Later in this period:

The advantage of searching for the comet later in this period is that it becomes easier to see as it ends up higher up in an increasingly dark sky, at the expense of gradually decreasing brightness.

Some of those who saw and photographed the comet were ISS astronauts Don Pettit and Matthew Dominick, who shared their photos and the time-lapse they shot from the window of the space station: “The tail of the comet grows larger and larger every day,” Matthew wrote. In his post on X. Below you can watch the video:

They also announced that the comet is getting brighter with each passing day, which bodes well for us here on Earth who want to catch a glimpse of the comet and its tail.

Tips for imaging Comet C/2023 A3 Tuchinshan-ATLAS

Since you can likely see the comet with the naked eye, it is also possible to photograph it and highlight its tail in the image. A comet's good visibility in the sky makes it an ideal subject for photography enthusiasts who want to try their hand at astrophotography, so take the opportunity to immortalize the comet in a photo.

Weather permitting, you now have until the end of September, and then you have the next opportunity from October 13-30. Take care! But remember to be outside before sunrise and comet light interference.

– Light pollution: Start by finding a good location where the amount of light pollution from cities and industrial areas is minimal. You can find the place with the least light pollution near you on the page, for example lightpollutionmap.info.

-Tripod: It is important that you take photos when the camera is on a tripod, otherwise they will easily become blurry and blurry.

– Camera settings: Set the camera to start at longer shutter speeds, for example. 20 seconds, the minimum aperture value (largest aperture) at f and ISO is around 640 – a value you can then increase depending on how dim the comet is, which in turn depends on the date you are shooting on. With this basic setting, stars tend not to be drawn into unsightly light trails due to long exposures. You can adjust it yourself.

– In the corner: For landscape photography, you should choose a wider angle lens because then you will get a larger portion of the sky and the best results. However, the comet is relatively small, about a kilometer in diameter, so if you included it in the image it would look like a faint green star.

– Close-up lens: To get a little closer to the comet, a telephoto lens is needed. A disadvantage of using telephoto lenses is that you cannot use equally long shutter speeds before the Earth's rotation begins to appear in the images in the form of extended star lines. One way to compensate for this is to raise the ISO on your camera and take more photos.

– Track the stars: Another way is to use what's called a “star tracker”, which is a motorized tripod head that compensates for the Earth's rotation, with a tracker that you can expose for a much longer time and thus collect more light.

– Stacking: To get the best photo results, it's helpful to take several photos and then stitch them together. Then you reduce the noise in the image and have better image data to work with. A good program to stack your images is Free program DeepSkyStackerIt also has a special function for processing images with comets only.

Learn more about astrophotography with Angel Fux

If you are interested in learning more about astrophotography, you can visit the Kamera & Bild and Zoom Fotoresor “Swedish Photo Days” event held in Stockholm on October 19, Gothenburg on November 9, and Lund on November 30. Lectures are 95 SEK, visiting exhibitors and learning about the latest cameras, lenses and photo accessories is free. Read more at www.sverigesfotodagar.se

On photography days, the astrophotographer lectures angelica fox, He is known for his focus on night scenes in mountainous areas. At the age of 25, after 15 years in photography, I became obsessed with capturing mountain landscapes at night. She spends weeks planning each shot, then travels hours to remote locations and often endures freezing temperatures to shoot all night. The lecture will be held in English.

Comet C 2022 E3 (ZTF) visited us in 2023

In 2023, Kamera & Bild wrote about comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), which would have been visible to the naked eye but is very difficult to see — but can be imaged.

The two images of the comet above – the one above taken on January 19 and the one above on January 5 – were photographed by Christian Bergquist – with the help of the 130mm SDST (Swedish Deep Sky Telescope), operated remotely from Spain.