Observation by Nick James: C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in the evening

Uploaded by

Nick James

Observer

Nick James

Observed

2023 Jan 27 - 21:38

Uploaded

2023 Jan 28 - 07:38

Objects

C/2022 E3

Equipment
  • 72mm, f/4.8 refr. + ASI294MC
Exposure

10x120s

Location

Chelmsford, UK

Target name

C/2022 E3 (ZTF)

Title

C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in the evening

About this image

The only forecast clear sky last night was before 10pm so this image was obtained with a bright crescent moon in the sky. The transparency was quite variable too. This is a sigma clipped stack offset at the comet's apparent rate which is now almost 13 arcsec/min. The long, forked, ion tail is visible to the west along with the short, broad dust tail. The dust fan around to the east is also faintly visible. Compare this view with Gideon van Buitenen's simulation here. I get a total magnitude of 5.4 from the green channel of this image and a coma diameter of 23 arcmin.  

Close approach is on February 1st but the moon will become much more of a problem over the next week.

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