Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is currently visible in the Australian skies from around 4 am until sunrise.
Should be a magnitude 2 object in the east much of the coming week.
With those photos sm put up earlier, I may have to get up early and go down to the beach.
Michael V said:
With those photos sm put up earlier, I may have to get up early and go down to the beach.
sarahs mum (from chat):
she who was pink in the SSSF posted today…
There was stuff happening in the sky as well as on the ground yesterday and early this morning…
We have a comet visiting our skies for a couple more days before it take a break and reappears in mid October after sunset… the moon was up early this morning too! And there’s a big fat Venus hanging low over Casilda House last night…
Michael V said:
Michael V said:
With those photos sm put up earlier, I may have to get up early and go down to the beach.
sarahs mum (from chat):
she who was pink in the SSSF posted today…
There was stuff happening in the sky as well as on the ground yesterday and early this morning…
We have a comet visiting our skies for a couple more days before it take a break and reappears in mid October after sunset… the moon was up early this morning too! And there’s a big fat Venus hanging low over Casilda House last night…
remember that the camera lens may have been open for a while and naked eye might not be as marked.
sarahs mum said:
Michael V said:
Michael V said:
With those photos sm put up earlier, I may have to get up early and go down to the beach.
sarahs mum (from chat):
she who was pink in the SSSF posted today…
There was stuff happening in the sky as well as on the ground yesterday and early this morning…
We have a comet visiting our skies for a couple more days before it take a break and reappears in mid October after sunset… the moon was up early this morning too! And there’s a big fat Venus hanging low over Casilda House last night…
remember that the camera lens may have been open for a while and naked eye might not be as marked.
They’re saying it’s certainly better through a lens at the moment.
Low in the east is not going to be viable for me due to the local structures.
Bubblecar said:
sarahs mum said:
Michael V said:sarahs mum (from chat):
she who was pink in the SSSF posted today…
There was stuff happening in the sky as well as on the ground yesterday and early this morning…
We have a comet visiting our skies for a couple more days before it take a break and reappears in mid October after sunset… the moon was up early this morning too! And there’s a big fat Venus hanging low over Casilda House last night…
remember that the camera lens may have been open for a while and naked eye might not be as marked.
They’re saying it’s certainly better through a lens at the moment.
Low in the east is not going to be viable for me due to the local structures.
or me.
Michael V said:
With those photos sm put up earlier, I may have to get up early and go down to the beach.
It’s a hard life :)
sarahs mum said:
Michael V said:
Michael V said:
With those photos sm put up earlier, I may have to get up early and go down to the beach.
sarahs mum (from chat):
she who was pink in the SSSF posted today…
There was stuff happening in the sky as well as on the ground yesterday and early this morning…
We have a comet visiting our skies for a couple more days before it take a break and reappears in mid October after sunset… the moon was up early this morning too! And there’s a big fat Venus hanging low over Casilda House last night…
remember that the camera lens may have been open for a while and naked eye might not be as marked.
Fair call.
The Rev Dodgson said:
Michael V said:
With those photos sm put up earlier, I may have to get up early and go down to the beach.
It’s a hard life :)
Sure is.
Michael V said:
The Rev Dodgson said:
Michael V said:
With those photos sm put up earlier, I may have to get up early and go down to the beach.
It’s a hard life :)
Sure is.
Even I who drag myself up early every morning, might have step out into the crisp morning temperatures to have a peek. I migt have to set up a ladder to see over the trees but.
A cloudy east here this morning, alas
dv said:
A cloudy east here this morning, alas
I found that 5AM isn’t early enough.
Overcast. Hi de ho.
dv said:
Overcast. Hi de ho.
Not overcast here, but sufficient cloud to make it not worthwhile to go to the beach. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Michael V said:
dv said:
Overcast. Hi de ho.
Not overcast here, but sufficient cloud to make it not worthwhile to go to the beach. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-03/astrophotographers-capture-comet-australian-skies/104418652
Seems to be best seen froom the West of Aus.
roughbarked said:
Michael V said:
dv said:
Overcast. Hi de ho.
Not overcast here, but sufficient cloud to make it not worthwhile to go to the beach. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-03/astrophotographers-capture-comet-australian-skies/104418652
Nice. Sort of makes me wish I had a tripod.
I don’t think it is on the cards for me to see this thing
dv said:
I don’t think it is on the cards for me to see this thing
Wait a couple of weeks and try again?
it’s in the stars
Got up 4:22 am. No cloud to be seen at our house. Went to beach. Cloud to around 15° above the horizon in the east.
Ah well.
Back to bed.
Tomorrow: earlier.
Michael V said:
Got up 4:22 am. No cloud to be seen at our house. Went to beach. Cloud to around 15° above the horizon in the east.Ah well.
Back to bed.
Tomorrow: earlier.
Not a cloud in the sky now.
Ah well.
Michael V said:
Michael V said:
Got up 4:22 am. No cloud to be seen at our house. Went to beach. Cloud to around 15° above the horizon in the east.Ah well.
Back to bed.
Tomorrow: earlier.
Not a cloud in the sky now.
Ah well.
At least you tried.
Peak Warming Man said:
Michael V said:
Michael V said:
Got up 4:22 am. No cloud to be seen at our house. Went to beach. Cloud to around 15° above the horizon in the east.Ah well.
Back to bed.
Tomorrow: earlier.
Not a cloud in the sky now.
Ah well.
At least you tried.
Aye.
Trying again in the morning. I expect it’ll be the most likely morning to not have cloud. I hope that there is none.
The comet rises at 4:18 am, one hour and five minutes before sunrise.
Michael V said:
Trying again in the morning. I expect it’ll be the most likely morning to not have cloud. I hope that there is none.The comet rises at 4:18 am, one hour and five minutes before sunrise.
I got to an easterly viewing point, above the beach at 4:17 am. At this time there was no twilight glow, but after a few minutes, I sort of saw that there might be some cloud just above the horizon. As time went by, there was no comet to be seen. At the first twilight glow, I surmised that I may have been looking a little north of east, so I went to a better viewing platform. We kept watching and waiting until after sunrise. No comet was seen.
There was indeed a thinnish band of cloud that I estimated to be a bit less than one degree above the horizon. (Thumb and outstretched arm method.) There were also some scattered clouds, Some were in the area where the comet should have been, but they were quite small.
By my calculations, the comet should have reached about 16 degrees above the horizon before sunrise. There was an hour and five minutes between the predicted comet rise and sunrise. I have no idea where the comet went, despite the prediction that it should have had a magnitude of 1.5.
I should have been able to post a comet photo, but that didn’t work out, so some sunrise photos (one with an osprey and Double Island Point) and a photo of water ripples caused by sea outflow around a rock will have to suffice.
And so for now we bid farewell to this thing as it passes between the Earth and the Sun. It will reemerge as an evening object about a week from now but by then it will be somewhat dimmer.
Latest image from LASCO (Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment) camera shows the comet boldly on the right.
And the video on the right at the link below shows the comet’s recent progress as viewed by LASCO.
So did anyone spot Steve?
Link
dv said:
roughbarked said:
So did anyone spot Steve?
Link
What
Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.
Hoping for a cloudless evening
dv said:
Hoping for a cloudless evening
Me too. Cloudy last night. Just a few clouds now.
Michael V said:
dv said:
Hoping for a cloudless evening
Me too. Cloudy last night. Just a few clouds now.
Sdown to mag 4 now but hopefully will still perceive
weather forecast doesn’t look good for clear skies tonight.
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/
Brizzy tonight.
cloudless skies expected in Perth on Wednesday
Bubblecar said:
dv said:
Heh.
It was discovered in 2023 by both the Purple Mountain Observatory (Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory) in China and the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in South Africa almost simultaneously, which is why it is referred to by both names.
SCIENCE said:
simultaneously
Big call
dv said:
SCIENCE said:
simultaneously
Big call
Oh c’m‘on what’s 10 months in geologic time anyway¿
On February 22, 2023, the ATLAS telescope in South Africa detected a new faint object that was proven to be a comet. It was temporarily designated as A10SVYR. The comet was also independently captured by a telescope at Purple Mountain Observatory (Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory) on January 9, 2023. It was added to the list of objects awaiting confirmation, but after no follow-up observations were reported, it was removed on January 30, 2023, and was considered lost. Based on the comet naming system, the comet received the names of both observatories and was officially named C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS). Shortly after its discovery, observations up to April 2022 were found in the archives of the Minor Planet Center. C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is a long-period comet that completes one orbit around the Sun in 80,660 years.
LOL fk
So, when and where do I need to be looking?
About 30° right and slightly down from Venus, there’s a star kind of horizontally 15° right of Venus and then it’s the same arc distance a bit more diagonally down and to the right of that.
No clouds yesterday afternoon, and the comet was around 15° above the horizon at 7:25 pm – supposedly the best time to view it. I was able to find is using binoculars, but it is so faint I had to avert my eyes to see it. The tail was minuscule.
Still, I did see it, but I won’t try again.
This ‘un has declined to a magnitude 5 now.
I was out in the suburbs on Wednesday night, and the skies were quite cloudless. It’s not really what you’d call dark sky conditions but it is a bit better than where I live. I was able to see the head of the comet but not any tail.
I didn’t have a “camera” camera with me so I propped up my phone and allowed a 30 second exposure. You can just about make out the tail in the photo. I’m sorry I didn’t see it when it was more like a mag 3 though.
dv said:
This ‘un has declined to a magnitude 5 now.I was out in the suburbs on Wednesday night, and the skies were quite cloudless. It’s not really what you’d call dark sky conditions but it is a bit better than where I live. I was able to see the head of the comet but not any tail.
I didn’t have a “camera” camera with me so I propped up my phone and allowed a 30 second exposure. You can just about make out the tail in the photo. I’m sorry I didn’t see it when it was more like a mag 3 though.
It does have quite a tail.Even if it is dimming.
