Observation by Nick James: C/2023 A3 close-up

Uploaded by

Nick James

Observer

Nick James

Observed

2024 Oct 22 - 18:01

Uploaded

2024 Oct 23 - 06:56

Objects

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)

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Constellation

Ophiuchus

Field centre

RA: 16^h57^m
Dec: +02°59'
Position angle: -0°11'

Field size

0°44' × 0°31'

Equipment

ASI6200MM + Celestron HD11

Exposure

20x15s

Location

Chelmsford, UK

Target name

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)

Title

C/2023 A3 close-up

About this image

It was very clear here yesterday evening at twilight and I had three systems set up to image the comet: An Edge HD11 + ASI6200 and Megrez 72 + ASI294 which are on my main mount and a RedCat51 + Sony A7s on a smaller mount. The comet is high enough now that I can follow it into dark skies before it disappears behind trees. I still have a lot of processing to do but the comet still looks very good, although not very colourful, at all scales. This is a close-up of the coma showing the intense central condensation, hoods and a thin dark lane in the tail. This is a simple log stretch with no other enhancement.

Later in the night I got images of more "normal" comets including C/2024 N3 (Sarneczky) at magnitude 18.7. They will be around to keep me busy long after C/2023 A3 has faded!

Files associated with this observation

2023a3_20241022_180121_ndj.jpg (1.0 MB)

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Steve Knight, Jimmy Fraser, Bill Leatherbarrow, Geof Lewis, Peter Carson

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