Comet 2022 E3 ZTF - The "Green Comet"

[Astrnmrtom]

This is a stack of 15 - 60 second exposures taken with my a6000 @iso 2500. Prime focus through my 94mm f/7 refractor. Because the comet is moving so fast against the background stars, the nucleus is a little elongated. Hints of a thin ion tail, as well as a sunward tail. Dust tail is reddish. Coma is indeed green.

Haven't figured out how to remove the chromatic aberration around the brighter stars in Affinity Photo. Did a little tweeking with levels and vibrance.

Stacked with Deep Sky stacker.

Used an inexpensive intervalometer. Works great. Taken in the desert of Arizona about 60 miles west of Phoenix.

Tom

 

[Cαscαdian]

Very cool. Hopefully our regional grey blanket will retreat for a few nights and let us see the visitor!

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Nicely done

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Nicely done Tom. Since that's a stack, what does a single exposure of the comet look like?

 

[Paul stuart]

great catch i like the tail it gives it sense of motion ,if you had not mentioned the green coma i am sure most would be none the wiser .

 

[Astrnmrtom]

Nicely done Tom. Since that's a stack, what does a single exposure of the comet look like?

Like below:

Not much more detail, but it's noisier. By pushing down the noise with stacking, I can tease out more detail by doing a histogram stretch. I'm still a astrophotography newbie, so I'm doing simple processing. What's encouraging for me is I have a friend with a larger refractor, and a dedicated, cooled, astro-imager and his shots looks surprisingly similar.

This single frame was shot at a higher iso - 3200 if memory serves me correctly.

If you have the skies to give it a try, I saw a fan shape in 8x40 binoculars so it should show some shape in a modest zoom and a tripod. If nothing else you'll get a small, wedged shaped, fuzzy glow.

You may even be able to do a series of exposures, just long enough to keep the stars from tracking and try stacking them. I used a free program called Deep Sky Stacker. It should handle some movement between untracked shots.

Biggest hurdle to getting an image is the silly thing doesn't rise to a decent altitude until 2am. My images were taken around 4:30am. But this is at 34d North latitude. It would be higher sooner for those further north.



Tom

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Biggest hurdle to getting an image is the silly thing doesn't rise to a decent altitude until 2am. My images were taken around 4:30am. But this is at 34d North latitude. It would be higher sooner for those further north.

Yep, that's a deal breaker for me as a parent of a small infant. I didn't have to worry about kids when I was taking pictures of the neowise comet a few years ago, but its a different ball game now. I'll live vicariously through your astrophotography photos sir

 

[Cαscαdian]

Clear wx coming this weekend, but with a chilly breeze. Hopefully i can shoot between gusts

 

[Astrnmrtom]

The Comet Gods have decided to smile on those who can't stay up late. The comet has now moved into the evening sky and is approaching the bowl of the little dipper.

Here's an image taken last night 1/26/23 around midnight, but the comet was visible at 10pm. For those farther North it should be visible right after dark. This was taken with my a6000, a 35mm Rokinon f/1.2 @ f/4, 90sec exposure, iso 3200. The camera was on a tracking mount.

Because the image shows so darned many stars, I've underlined the Little Dipper stars. Polaris is the one on the end of the handle on the left side of the image. Depending on your skies, you may have some difficulty seeing all the stars in the Dipper. Polaris, and the two end stars in the bowl are the brightest followed by the handle stars and finally the other two bowl stars. The Big Dipper will be to the upper right in the sky. You'll also see if set on a giant cosmic table top, the Big Dipper handle curves downward, and the Little Dipper handle curves upward.

NOTE: The orientation of the Dipper in the sky will differ from the photo depending on what time you look. I had the camera oriented to capture the comet and the complete Dipper asterism.

Comet is easy to see in binoculars.

Enjoy.
Tom




Tom