Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS | 17Oct2024

Jim R 8 Comments

There have been countless good images of Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS during the recents weeks. Mine from last night isn’t special or better than those. I offer it here as an example of what a phone camera can do. I don’t normally use my phone for astrophotography. I prefer my Canon digital camera for its optics and zoom capability. I got a new Android Motorola phone a few months ago and wondered if its camera was able to do acceptable dark sky images. My Canon can be set to maximum 3200 ISO and 1 second exposure. The phone camera can also do 3200 but exposures of several seconds is possible in Pro mode. Here is the result using a 6 second exposure. The phone was mounted on a tripod. Focus was manual set to infinity. Shutter delay was set to 3 seconds to avoid shake. I think it was an acceptable result.

Moto g 5G – 3200 – 6 sec

For comparison, here is the image from the Canon two days earlier with 3200 and 1 sec exposure. It also has a little software processing. It is rather dark and missing some faint detail. But the focus is better when viewed enlarged on a computer screen.

PowerShot SX60 HS – 3200 – 1 sec

Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

Jim R 10 Comments

This much anticipated comet finally became visible here in the central US at 42˚ north latitude. Very clear skies the morning of 26 September allowed my wife and I an opportunity to see it. We knew it would be a challenge as we headed for a site with a clear view to the east. We brought binoculars and my camera with tripod. The comet rose a few minutes before 6 AM local time. The sky was just beginning to brighten some. We scanned the horizon back and forth hoping to spot it but to no avail. I set up my camera assuming it would probably capture something better than my 77 yr old eyes. It did. The comet is near the center of the yellow box in this unaltered image.

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