C/2022 E3 (ZTF)

[peter shah]

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) I imaged this remotely from Spain 31st December 2022 4:30am with Epsilon 180ed and ZWO ASI2400MC pro  Exposure time was 45mins total using 60s subframes.

Cheers
Peter

[Mark at Beaufort]

Great photo of the Comet. I am hoping for a fantastic view later in the month.

[peter shah]

23 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Great photo of the Comet. I am hoping for a fantastic view later in the month.

Thank you Mark, isn't it around the 21st it get closest to the Earth? could be wrong but lets hope its a good show. 

[Zummerzet_Leveller]

Lovely Peter.  Fantastic background too, great details in the little galaxies.

[peter shah]

14 minutes ago, Zummerzet_Leveller said:

Lovely Peter.  Fantastic background too, great details in the little galaxies.

Thank you Jody, I love the little barred spiral in the left side of the frame

[Scooot]

Hi Peter, that’s another smashing image.

I’m going to have a go at this using my baby tak and the same camera if I get a chance. I was wondering what time interval you used in between the subs? 

[Nik271]

5 hours ago, peter shah said:

Thank you Mark, isn't it around the 21st it get closest to the Earth? could be wrong but lets hope its a good show. 

Closest approach is on the night of 1 February, at about 0.3AU from Earth. Currently it's expected to reach mag 5, so should be visible naked eye from a dark location.

Ephemeris here:

https://cobs.si/cobs/comet/2323/

 

[peter shah]

18 minutes ago, Nik271 said:

Closest approach is on the night of 1 February, at about 0.3AU from Earth. Currently it's expected to reach mag 5, so should be visible naked eye from a dark location.

Ephemeris here:

https://cobs.si/cobs/comet/2323/

 

ah yes....I think the reason I thought 21st is the moon is out of the way best for imaging

[peter shah]

49 minutes ago, Scooot said:

Hi Peter, that’s another smashing image.

I’m going to have a go at this using my baby tak and the same camera if I get a chance. I was wondering what time interval you used in between the subs? 

Thank you Richard....I will give it another go in a few days time

[bob-c]

A great image Peter, have been imaging E3 also but nothing near as good as your image.👍

Bob.

[peter shah]

3 hours ago, bob-c said:

A great image Peter, have been imaging E3 also but nothing near as good as your image.👍

Bob.

Thanks Bob, It was better than I though it would be if I'm honest

[Phillyo]

Peter, question if I may. When you take images like this of comets, do you just slew to it and track the sky using sidereal rate as normal or do you need to have the telescope track the comet instead? I'm assuming if you're only taking lots of short subs then normal sidereal rate will be correct but I have no idea as I've never taken a photo of a comet before and I'd like to give it a go tonight.

Fantastic image!! Love the detail in the tail of the comet.

[sharkmelley]

Hi Peter,

That's a great image and excellently processed.

The Tak Epsilon 180ED and ZWO ASI2400MC Pro form a great combination.  Even better with dark skies!

Mark

[peter shah]

On 18/01/2023 at 12:17, Phillyo said:

Peter, question if I may. When you take images like this of comets, do you just slew to it and track the sky using sidereal rate as normal or do you need to have the telescope track the comet instead? I'm assuming if you're only taking lots of short subs then normal sidereal rate will be correct but I have no idea as I've never taken a photo of a comet before and I'd like to give it a go tonight.

Fantastic image!! Love the detail in the tail of the comet.

I just keep these exposures short enough not to show too much trailing in the comet. Otherwise I would get star trailing which IMO would look worse.....Every comet is different so if its a faster moving comet I would do two data sets one to track the comet and the other sidereal. 

On 18/01/2023 at 13:22, sharkmelley said:

Hi Peter,

That's a great image and excellently processed.

The Tak Epsilon 180ED and ZWO ASI2400MC Pro form a great combination.  Even better with dark skies!

Mark

Thank you Mark