For anyone plotting similar attempts, the #comet was still clearly visible in a single frame at 7°37" (sun -7°53")
Not sure where diminishing returns sets in for stacking with changing sky brightness like that, but with the comet that visible in one unstretched frame, it should be possible to pull out quite a bit more. Power lines will make this one tricky
Anyway, definitely possible to capture this comet with a basic camera. Won't be pretty like the ones that go viral, but it'll be yours.
For shots like this where I can't visually find the target, I use Stellarium to find a more visible object that will put the comet in the frame (today, the Moon), though with the 100mm EFL lens I used here, just putting the bottom of the frame near the horizon and using a compass app for the direction would be plenty
Hey, median does a pretty good job on the power lines. Still visible in an extreme stretch, but there's a lot more comet too
Wonder if I can make my @gmic pipeline automatically mask the dark foreground stuff? 🤔
KarlTheFog finally took an evening off and, yeah, that's a comet all right. Definitely naked eye visible even with the full moon and light pollution, but not as dramatic as the photo
(Canon G7 X, single 15s exposure, ISO 200, 50mm EFL)
Stack of 10x16s, moderately stretched
#Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas last night. Median stack of 140 frames, aligned on the comet and variously tortured with gimp and gmic
(Canon G7 X, 8s exposure, f/3.2 ISO 640 85mm EFL)
#Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas last night. Average of 160 frames, aligned on the comet and heavily processed with gimp and gmic
(Canon G7 X, 7s exposure, f/3.2 ISO 800 85mm EFL)
Tonight's #Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas - Aside form the sky being properly dark, doesn't look much different from last night, but if you know where to look, you can also spot a Texas-sized* asteroid
(Canon G7 X, 170x6s, f/3.2 ISO 800 85mm EFL)
* by surface area
Tonight's #Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas - Fading
(Canon G7 X, 199x6s, f/2.8 ISO 800 85mm EFL)
#Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas last night (and another Pallas cameo)
#Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas on Oct 24
(Canon G7 X, 200x5s, f/2.8 ISO 800 100mm EFL)
#Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas on Nov 3. Plus NGC 6572. Same settings as the previous image (but not identical processing)
#Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas on Nov 6, passing by NGC 6572. Same settings again
Fading #Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas on Nov 11, passing some star clusters.
Same settings as the last few
#Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas tonight. Still visible in a single frame but too faint to identify on the camera screen. Globular cluster NGC 6760 is the other (redder, tailless) fuzzy blob identifiable in this image
(Canon G7 X, 200x5s, f/2.8 ISO 800 100mm EFL)
#Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas tonight. Not really visible in a single frame, probably have to click through see it here
(Canon G7 X, 200x5s, f/2.8 ISO 800 100mm EFL)
And here ends the #Comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanAtlas thread, with a convincing non-detection. Barring extraordinary circumstances, I shall not be photographing any future apparition
(Canon G7 X, 163x5s, f/2.8 ISO 1250 100mm EFL, Stellarium for reference)
(edit: whoops, had Stellarium on the wrong day. But it's still not there at the correct location either)
Reed Mideke
