Night Sky - David Mathre Photography

Sunday (27-October-2024) — New Jersey

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) over New Jersey

Another clear night. It has been very dry this fall with few clouds. All five telescopes were out tonight. First viewing the comet. The Vespera II telescope was fitted with a CLS (city light suppression) filter causing the tint to the image. The length of the comet tail can be estimated based on the field of view for the telescope’s digital sensors. Stellina (1.0° x 0.7°), Vespera Classic (1.6° x 0.9°), Vespera Passengers (2.4° x 1.8°), Vespera II (2.5° x 1.4°), 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). Composite of 30 images taken with a Vaonis Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec).

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 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.

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).

After the comet dropped below the tree line, the telescopes were set to continue or start multi-night mosaic observations of the Veil Nebulae (NGC 6960 and NGC 6992), the Heart and Fish Head Nebulae (IC 1805 and IC 1795), and the Horse Head and Flame Nebulae (IC 434 and NGC 2024). Three of the telescopes Vespera Classic, Vespera Passenger, and Vespera Pro) were fitted with a dual narrowband interference Hα/OIII (hydrogen alpha/oxygen III) filter. The CLS filter remained on the Vespera II telescope, and no filter was used on the Stellina telescope.

Saturday (26-October-2024) — New Jersey

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) over New Jersey

The sky continues to be clear, and the comet remains visible to the Stellina and Vespera telescopes. Each night getting fainter. The images are five-minute composites (30 x 10 second exposures). Although I would like to do longer composite images, the comet is moving relative to the stars in the image. This is shown in the cropped fourth image (12m 20s = 73 x 10 second exposures) which also has jet trails passing through the comet tail.

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS). Composite of 73 images taken with a Vaonis Vespera-Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 30 x 10 sec). Cropped image with jet trails passing through the tail.

Heart and Fish Head Nebula (IC 1805 and IC 1795)

The recent update for the Singularity application used to control the Stellina and Vespera telescopes includes the capability to include mosaic observations in the “Plan Your Night” module. Mosaic observations allow the instruments to view wider sections of the night sky. The new update also provides the ability to make multi-night observations. I will be starting some observations of the combined Heart and Fish Head Nebula (IC 1805 and IC 1795) and the combined Horsehead and Flame Nebula (IC 434 and NGC 2024).

I will be doing these observations over the next several nights after Comet C/2023 A3 sets below the tree line. These are the jpg images directly from the Stellina, Vespera classic, and Vespera-Pro telescopes without any additional image processing. I want to see how the multi-night images improve over time. Note that the Stellina telescope is not using any filters, whereas the Vespera classic and Vespera Pro telescopes are using a dual narrowband interference filter H-α (hydrogen-alpha) and O-III (oxygen-III) to enhance the light from the emission nebula.

IC 1805 (Heart Nebula) and IC 1795 (Fish Head Nebula). Multi-night Mosaic. Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 10 sec exposures). Night 1: 1251 stacked images (3h 28m 50s); mosaic 2503 x 2552 pixels.

IC 1805 (Heart Nebula) and IC 1795 (Fish Head Nebula). Multi-night Mosaic. Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 10 sec exposures). Night 1: 516 stacked images (0h 48m 00s); mosaic 2896 x 2863 pixels. (516 exp, 6.6°, 60% rh)

IC 1805 (Heart Nebula) and IC 1795 (Fish Head Nebula). Multi-night Mosaic. Vespera Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 10 sec exposures). Night 1: 1015+82=1177 stacked images (3h 16m 10s); mosaic 5304 x 5304 pixels. IC1805 (5.6°, 70% rh)

Horsehead and Flame Nebula (IC 434 and NGC 2024)

IC 434 (Horsehead Nebula) and NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula). Multi-night Mosaic. Stellina Telescope (400 mm, f/5, 10 sec exposures). Night 1: 708 stacked images (1h 88m 00s); mosaic 2527 x 2528 pixels. IC434 (709 exp, 1.9°, 87% rh)

IC 434 (Horsehead Nebula) and NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula). Multi-night Mosaic. Vespera Classic Telescope (200 mm, f/4, 10 sec exposures). Night 1: 1015 stacked images (1h 49m 10s); mosaic 2840 x 2920 pixels. IC434 (1015 exp, 4.8°, 68% rh)

IC 434 (Horsehead Nebula) and NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula). Multi-night Mosaic. Vespera Pro Telescope (250 mm, f/5, 10 sec exposures). Night 1: 862 stacked images (1h 23m 40s); mosaic 5304 x 5304 pixels.

Friday (25-October-2024) — New Jersey

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) over New Jersey

The comet continues to be visible to my Stellina and Vespera telescopes. The tail is getting shorter and shorter. The images are five-minute composites (30 x 10 second exposures). With longer exposures there is movement of the comet head relative to the visible stars. Clouds came in before the comet descended below the western tree line preventing longer observations.

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). Image processed with Capture One Pro with noise reduction using Topaz AI.

Monday (21-October-2024) — New Jersey

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)

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).

Sunday (20-October-2024) — New Jersey

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)

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 907c camera and 25 mm f/2.5 lens (ISO 800, f/8, 32 sec). — 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).

Autumn in New Jersey. Image taken with a Hasselblad 907c camera and 25 mm f/2.5 lens — 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).