Sunday evening, 20 October 2024, I briefly went outside to photograph Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3). Here are some photographs.

1900 MST: The comet was faintly visible with a long tail, naked eye.

1901 MST: Comet, Venus, planes, flaring satellite; D850 DSLR (f/2.8, 20 seconds, ISO 1600, FL 24mm)


1910 MST: Comet; D850 DSLR (f/2.8, 206 seconds, ISO 6400, FL 45mm, cropped)


1912 MST: Milky Way & Comet; iPhone 15 Pro Max (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 1X lens)
1915 MST: Comet; iPhone 15 Pro Max (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 2X lens)


1916 MST: Comet; iPhone 15 Pro Max (Night Mode, 10 seconds, 5X lens)

I opened the observatory later that night.

Open: Sunday, 20 October 2024, 2043 MST Temperature: 62°F

Session: 2022 Conditions: Clear

Equipment:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece
Focal reducer

Camera:
D850 DSLR
iPhone 15 Pro Max

2045 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision ON.

The eastern sky was brightening from the rising waning gibbous Moon. I still hoped to get some images of a few Barnard Objects (dark nebulae) this session.

Prepared the D850 DSLR for imaging. Mounted the D850 at prime focus + focal reducer, focused on Altair, locked the telescope mirror, and slewed to the first Barnard Object.

2056 MST: StarLock ON.

Took these StarLock autoguided images of Barnard Objects (30 seconds, ISO 6400, except the 1st image was ISO 3200). The last two images are the same image.

The sky was getting too bright now that the Moon had risen over the hill to the east. I ended imaging the Barnard Objects.

2111 MST: StarLock OFF.

Viewed Saturn, 102X.

Viewed the Moon low in the eastern sky and through some tree limbs, 102X.

2121 MST: Took this handheld iPhone 15 Pro Max afocal 102X image of the Moon using the Camera app (1X lens).

2127 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Sunday, 20 October 2024, 2132 MST Temperature: 59°F

Session Length: 0h 49m Conditions: Clear

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