Observation by Nick James: C/2023 A3

Uploaded by

Nick James

Observer

Nick James

Observed

2024 Oct 24 - 18:14

Uploaded

2024 Oct 25 - 06:37

Objects

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)

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Constellation

Ophiuchus

Field centre

RA: 17^h22^m
Dec: +03°46'
Position angle: +3°20'

Field size

5°22' × 3°45'

Equipment

ASI2600MC + RedCat 51

Exposure

41x30s

Location

Chelmsford, UK

Target name

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)

Title

C/2023 A3

About this image

A colour image of a not very colourful comet. Most of the light we are seeing at the moment is solar reflection from the huge amount of dust in the tail. The blue ion tail is buried in the dust tail at the moment. This image has been stacked iteratively to freeze the comet motion.

This was taken using a RedCat 51 which has the same aperture as a SeeStar although I have used a much bigger sensor. The limiting magnitude of the stack is around 16 in the green channel (vs Gaia G). This shows how powerful small telescopes can be with modern sensors.

Files associated with this observation

2023a3_20241024_181413_ndj.jpg (5.3 MB)

Like this image

Mike Foulkes, James Weightman, Grant Privett, Manolo_Rodriguez, Steve Knight, Nick Quinn, Ms Janice McClean, Callum Potter, Geof Lewis, Dominic Ford, David Davies, Ron Johnson, Peter Carson

Comments

Grant Privett, 2024 Oct 25 - 09:03 UTC

Stacked iteratively? Not stacked on the comet motion?

Nick James, 2024 Oct 25 - 15:18 UTC

It just refers to the iterative way that the algorithm removes moving objects from the stationary stack and stationary objects from the moving stack and then combines the two stacks back into a single image. Basically, it is how you can display a 20 minute exposure of a comet moving at 5 arcsec/min without the stars trailing.

All the science, astrometry, photometry etc. is done on conventional stacks but this method produces "prettier" images for display.

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