It was another clear night and two tripods and two telescopes were moved to the back section to view the comet. Each night Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is a little bit higher in the sky but becomes a bit dimmer. The estimated magnitude of the comet was +4.9. The length of the comet tail also decreases every night. The digital sensor field of view for the first image (Vespera Passengers ) with the comet head near the center is 2.4° x 1.8°. For the second image (Vespera II) I was able to get the comet head closer to the bottom. The diagonal field of view for this sensor is 2.5° x 1.4°.
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Passengers Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 30 x 10 sec).Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera II Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec) using a CLS (city light suppression) filter.
I returned to the far corner of my backyard with a view to the west where Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) was still high enough above the trees be visible just after dusk. The estimated magnitude of the comet was +4.7. I couldn’t see it directly, but easily captured an image with Vespera Pro telescope. This is a composite of 30 stacked 10 second images (300 second exposure).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).
I found a spot in the far corner of my backyard with a view to the west where Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) was still high enough above the trees after dusk to be visible. The estimated magnitude of the comet was +4.5. To me barely visible to the eye, but easily captured by camera or Vespera telescope.
To observe a comet with the Vespera telescopes, you first need to determine the RA (right ascension) and Dec (declination) coordinates of the comet for your location at the time of the observation. I use Stellarium find this information. The RA/dec data is needed to create a manual observation target in the Singularity application that controls the Vespera telescopes.
The Vespera telescopes weigh about 5 kg (11 lbs) and could easily be carried to the far corner of my backyard and set up on heavy duty camera tripods. The only thing I needed to worry about was a doe that found a hole in my deer fence and was wandering around in the back yard. Once it was dark enough to initialize (automatically align and focus) the Vespera telescopes all I needed to do set it to look for the manual target and start acquiring and stacking images.
The comet was much brighter than the other stars in the field of view. The comet’s tail was longer than the field of view of the telescopes. Vespera Classic (1.6° x 0.9°) and Vespera Pro (1.6° x 1.6°). The jpg images were processed to increase the brightness (Capture One Pro) and reduce the noise (Topaz AI).
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Image taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera and 25 mm f/2.5 lens (ISO 800, f/8, 32 sec). Processed jpg image with Capture One and Topaz AI (denoise). Cropped to 8k x 8k (~60° field of view).Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Image taken with a Hasselblad 907x camera and 25 mm f/2.5 lens (ISO 800, f/8, 32 sec). Processed jpg image with Capture One and Topaz AI (denoise). Cropped to 2400 x 2400 pixels (~ 18° field of view).Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 30 x 10 sec).Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).
On Wednesday, Sunspot AR3848 sent a powerful solar flare directly toward earth. Based on the intensity and length of the coronal mass ejections (CME), NOAA and NASA forecasted that it could cause a severe G-4 class geomagnetic storm, with the possibility of auroras being visible further south than usual. The CME arrived on Thursday generating multiple alerts.
I went outside a little after 7 PM to possibly set up a camera to capture the Northern Lights. I don’t have a good view of the horizon to the north and hoped to see something above the trees. I wasn’t expecting anything this early as it was just dark out. To my amazement the sky looking north was bright red, and when I looked to the east and then south saw the typical aurora green. The display was everywhere, even straight up. It was much brighter than I expected, easily visible to the eye, not just with a digital camera. I wasn’t sure which direction to point the camera. I ended up setting up several cameras with wide angle lenses pointing different directions, including one with a fisheye lens with a 180° view pointing straight up. Each camera was set to take images every 30 seconds (30 second exposure, f/8, ISO 1600). Even though I missed some of the initial brightest display, I left the cameras out for several more hours. They did come back several times. I used the images to create the following time lapse videos.
View Looking North
Camera 1: Northeast (82° Field of View). 19:19-20:21
View Looking East
Camera 2: East (92° Field of View). 19:30-03:00
View Looking Up
Camera 3: Up (180° Field of View). 19:48-22:36
View Looking NorthWest
Camera 4: Northwest (104° Field of View). 20:00-01:36
View Looking North
Camera 1: Northeast (75° Field of View). 20:24-03:00
View Looking North
Camera 5: North (114° Field of View). 22:05-04:49
View Looking NorthEast
Camera 6: Northeast (84° Field of View). 22:17-01:09
Individual Images
Star Trails and Northern Lights Over New Jersey. Composite of 304 images taken with a Nikon Z9 camera and 8-15 mm fisheye lens (ISO 1600, 8 mm, f/8, 30 sec).
With the sky clear, I set up the Vespera Observation station with a solar filter during the day to observe sunspots. When I reviewed the images, I found one with a silhouette of a bird (Turkey Vulture?) flying in front of the sun. In the past I have capture images of planes, and sometimes satellites transiting the solar disk. While on Semester at Sea voyages, we had an informal contest to capture images of ships at the horizon passing in front of the sun at sunset (or sunrise).
Silhouette of bird flying in front of the Sun. Image taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 1/4000 sec) fitted with a solar filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
Once it got dark out, I set up both the Vespera and Stellina observation stations to observe deep sky objects (galaxies, nebulae, star clusters). The Vespera was fitted with a dual band (H-alpha and O-III) filter. The Vespera captured images of NGC 6960: Western Veil Nebula, Witch’s Broom Nebula; IC 1396: Elephant’s Trunk Nebula; and IC 1795: Fish Head Nebula. The final one didn’t go to completion due to condensation on the lens.
NGC 6960: Western Veil Nebula, Witch’s Broom Nebula. Composite of 407 10 second exposures taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 4070 sec) using a dual band (H-alpha, O-III) filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
IC 1396 Emission Nebula (Elephant’s Trunk Nebula). Composite of 623 10 second exposures taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 6230 sec) using a dual band (H-alpha, O-III) filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
IC 1795 Emission Nebula (Fish Head Nebula). Composite of 175 10 second exposures taken with a Vespera Observation Station (50 mm lens, 200 mm focal length, f/4, 1750 sec) using a dual band (H-alpha, O-III) filter. Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. Note: Observation did not run to completion. (David J Mathre)
For the Stellina, I used the “Plan My Night” option to collect images of Messier 29 Open Cluster (M29, NGC 6913); NGC 6946 (Fireworks Galaxy); NGC 7331 Spiral Galaxy (Caldwel 30); Messier 31 Spiral Galaxy (Andromeda Galaxy, NGC 224); Messier 74 Spiral Galaxy (M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy); Messier 110 Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (M10, NGC 205); IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis. The system was set to collect images for about an hour for each object. For some reason, the telescope did not automatically close at the end of the collection. I am not sure if the external Anker Power USB power supply ran out. The lens was covered with dew. The Stellina system has a lens heater that is supposed to prevent condensation so may be the reason the power bank ran out. The Vespera system does not have the lens heater option installed.
Messier 29 Open Cluster (M29, NGC 6913). Composite of 131 exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 1310 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
NGC 6946 (Fireworks Galaxy). Composite of 220 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 2200 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
NGC 7331 Spiral Galaxy (Caldwel 30). Composite of 143 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 1430 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
Messier 31 Spiral Galaxy (Andromeda Galaxy, NGC 224). Composite of 601 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 6150 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
Messier 74 Spiral Galaxy (M74, NGC 628, Phantom Galaxy). Composite of 203 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 2030 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
Messier 110 Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (M10, NGC 205). Composite of 367 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 3670 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. Located near the Andromeda galaxy (bottom right corner). (David J Mathre)
IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis. Composite of 239 10 second exposures taken with a Stellina Observation Station (80 mm lens, 400 mm focal length, f/5, 2390 sec). Image processed with Topaz Photo AI. (David J Mathre)
Daily Electric Energy Used (46.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (51.7 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Surplus of 5.2 kWh.
