Forgot to mention the camera settings in the video: 2 sec., f/4, ISO1600 (I used 17 * 2" in the PS Stack) Keep in mind with these settings that the comet will be higher and higher in the Western sky this month, but also dimmer, so longer exposures and tracking will be called for soon :)
Thanks for the processing tips. Once the skies cleared here, I was able to capture it past two nights. What a thrill. I saw Hale-Bop back in 1996, but wasn't doing this kind of photography then (nore was digital photography a practical thing)😢 If I use a tracker next few nights, any suggestions on PA? Was thinking MSM.
Since I just got this same gear, should I assume the comet will be in focus with the lens at infinity? Trying to establish focus in the dark just using the viewscreen is proving more difficult than expected. Thanks for any feedback :).
So I got into astrophotography a few weeks ago. Atlas was my first proper astro photo, which is quite funny given that I almost missed it and didn't even know about it until 4 days before it broke up. I had 1.5hours of data on it with a diy rc servo based equatorial mount. So far this hobby seems fun.
During stacking, when you're manually aligning, you start by aligning layer 2 to layer 1, and then turn opacity of both up, and align layer 3 to layer 2. A better approach would be to turn off the visibility of layer 2 and align layer 3 to the same layer (1) that you aligned layer 2 to. Introduces less errors, since you're always referencing the same static layer, as opposed to a potentially moving target as the small errors from every stack start adding up.
Hey Nico!! - I really loved the little adventure at the start of this mate, and I just want to say the shot starting around 2:50 was evocative, it really stirred up a feeling of anticipation and wonder as the last remnants of sunlight gave way to the darkness of space, superb! 🙂 Tremendous work as always my friend!
I remember what a huge event Halley’s Comet was back in 1986. Our school even arranged field trips to the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Michigan where I got my first views of the universe in the planetarium . My mind was blown at the whole experience as a kid in the 6th grade. It left a lasting impression and triggered my love for astronomy/astrophotography. Thank you Halley’s
Glad to hear you mention "the thrill of the hunt" when it comes to comets. I've been out 3 times now trying to get a good shot of this one with little success, but none of it feels like a waste because just finding a comet in the sky at all feels like a little victory - even if it's just for a moment before the clouds roll in or the morning twilight takes over.
I saw it with naked eye on Sunday Oct 13, looking over San Francisco Bay from Berkeley. Small hill (50 ft). Got photographs. 30 exposures, 1/10 sec, F2.8, 180mm. Sony A7 IV. I hear you about "thrill of the hunt". I was looking too close to Venus. The comet was a full hand width away (spread). Also -- the satellites were VERY prevalent. 4 to 6 per set of exposures. I hand-deleted them on each exposure since they were a dot on each. Aligning stacks -- I aligned to background stars rather than the comet itself. Much more precise. Also set the layer to "Difference" while aligning, which also allows more precision. Once aligned, set layer to "Luminance, if lighter" in GIMP
Nice view up there. Appreciate the processing, I didn't realize you could drag the layers to manually align like that. I like your sunset result, it's a nice change of pace. Hoping for clear skies asap.
Wow, this brings back memories! I filmed Comet A3 recently and paired it with a spiritual journey. Shooting from Kunjapuri Temple, Rishikesh made it extra special!
I used Sequator to stack my image. It wroked pretty good. Also I think Im seeing Comet 13P Olbers just passed the tail of ATLAS. Love your videos. thanks for sharing
Nice job Nico. I also found it pretty easy Saturday night. I was still “in the city” so it wasn’t super bright. But, it’s there. We’ll see if it holds together over the next few weeks.
I just came back from from taking shots of the comet. I bought the Star Adventurer GTI because of your, and another person's video. Looked like the shots came out well. No editing at the moment but I'm excited!!
Nice job on comet A3 Nico. I was able to see it naked eye from my home in Southern CA on the 12th. I managed a few photos using my iPhone too! A very nice looking comet and a long tail!
Nice, I got a quick camera phone image, but am hoping the weather on Wednesday will let me get out with my DSLR. I was also thinking of the Rokinon 135 so I'm grateful you already did the hard work of figuring out the exposure for me !
Was too cloudy yesterday, but gonna go hike myself in a couple hours to see what I can get. That's always the issue with trying to catch these low objects in the northeast, hard to find good tree free sightlines unless you're willing to trek around in the dark for a bit lol
On October 17, 2024 at 40 degrees N 79.6 W (southwest Pennsylvania) I got a photo of this comet. Due to a full moon and light pollution I never had a naked eye view. I found the comet by first taking a wide angle shot and used that picture to align my telephoto lens by way of landmarks and stars.
Good job Nico. I lucked out - twice - last week in trying to see the comet befire sunruse here in Sydney. I'm hoping for better luck in the next few days after sunset..
Hey Nico, nice adventure and catch! I also used the 135mm (Samyang version) for one set which I turned into a timelapse and my AT60ED for my second set that I'm stacking now. Your end result is really nice! Clear skies!
It’s a good thing I went out Monday night to view the comet because there has been a chance since then. I will say I was very surprised as to how high in the sky the comet was. I was able to see it with my eyes and through the seestar but i started having issues as the night went on. It was only fairly faintly visible.
Thanks for the insights! We went out tonight to try to see it and we assumed it was too bright just after sunset like this, so we went to dinner and came back out and still could not see it in nearly total darkness. Weather apps said no clouds, but I'm not sure what else it could have been. I was hoping to get it lower like this so we can have an interesting foreground. Tomorrow's another shot!
Just found it in my 9x63 binoculars. Wonderful. A very long tail. Tonight more or less between Venus and Arcturas. Was higher than I thought it would be.Tomorow I will get my photo gear set up and try photographing with my Olympus OM-10 I will use either 25mm f1.8 (50mm FF equiv,) or my 45mm f1.8 Probably camera on my eq mount to track a llittle get as long an exposure as I can. I may try you multi shot stacking technique if a get some good single images. So nice image Nico, and thanks for the video.
nice! i did this for the eclipse, Siril lets you manually register images off of a reference image with an overlay, i used it to register images off of the prominences for the darkest exposures, and off of stars for the longer exposures. i would’ve done it in photoshop just like this too, except photoshop uses up so much more RAM and processing power than Siril that it would’ve crashed a dozen times over. So for those people stacking images of this comet, try it in Siril as well!
Nice job. I got similar results here in Connecticut away from as much light pollution as I could. I also face some nights of clouds! Its astronomy so what else is new.
Great video 👏🏻 I captured it today from Pakistan. Here the horizon is quiet hazy but I was able to get it in a 25 second exposure form my mobile phone. Waiting for to raise up a little in a couple of days so I would be able to capture it in darker skies
I tried last night and couldn't get a good vantage point of the horizon. Two hours wasted. Will try again next weekend earlier in the evening! Nice video thanks!
I just got back from trying to hunt this comet, I got it with a DSLR and my Samyang 135 when it was in the morning but there's WAY too much wildfire smoke in the air at the moment even all the way in Missouri. I'll try again Tuesday and maybe get it in frame with M5. That'll be cool.
I just saw the comet, it cleared up just enough to see it faintly with the naked eye right before it became obscured by haze, looked ok through binoculars. Hopefully i will have a clear evening soon.
my wife and i were able to see it by eye tonight/13th just after dark . hard to see for the light hi clouds here in n Oklahoma it was about a hand span north of Venus and about 2 fingers width above (real technical i know) planning on trying to get some pics tomorrow wish us luck!!!
Thanks for this. This was perfectly timed for me. I went through a similar adventure. Drove over two hours to try to capture the comet before sunrise. Couldn’t see it visually, but did see it in photos. But it wasn’t very impressive and I didn’t bother (yet) to process the data since I thought it would be lots of effort with unlikely results. Last night was first evening attempt. I have the comet in 750mm and 50mm tracked exposures (also 250mm with Seestar, but for some reason it didn’t save the raw frames as instructed….). But was left wondering how to process this given the aggressive sky gradients and foreground. I will now head to photoshop for the wide field…. Thanks! Oh... and one question that came to mind - how, in this workflow, could one add calibration frames? I took bias/darks/flats, created masters of them in Siril - but how would I go about integrating those into the workflow to further improve the result?
I've also been contending with clouds when trying to capture A3, i travelled specifically to a place which typically has fewer clouds and yet they're everywhere just this week! But I captured it tonight! Rokinon 135 turned out to be too long of a focal length! The tail is absolutely enormous. And tonight you could even see the ion tail which weirdly enough is pointing in the opposite direction of the dust tail.
I was able to get a good shot of the comet at dawn on October 02 from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico! It was visible to the eye but popped much better with the gopro on a long exposure (5 seconds f/2.5 [fixed] iso 1600)
Hey, Nico! Thanks for this overview of your experience. At the same latitude here in NH and was able to capture A3 just above the treeline of a pasture. It was pretty special. Can I ask where you hiked? Shooting from a mountaintop is still on my list of things to try.
I haven't seen the comet with optical aid or naked eye yet. I saw it in one image taken with a 60Da Canon back on Friday Sept 27 at 6:28am. It was not visible in binoculars. On Monday September 30th I captured five images of the comet just above the horizon at 6:09 till 6:16am at Isthmus Bay on the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. 81 West 45 North.
0:46 SAME! I did capture it my first attempt at sunrise, however, it's a faint blob -- vs the spectacular images Ive been seeing all over SM -- by the time the clouds cleared, it was being washed out by the sunlight 🫥 After that, it was just days of clouds &/or rainstorms. So I waited for it to become a sunset target bc the west side is drier & clearer (typically). I tried to view it last night, but clouds 🙃😂 Trying again tonight. Another attempt is around 21-23 when it doesnt have to compete w/the moon & closer to the MW.
Siril would be better if it’s high enough to get just the comet and stars without a dramatic gradient from the sunrise. Should be possible going forward. I was limited by how low it was so went with a more simple way of stacking in PS.
Great video Nico! I wish it had come out before I went out to get some images (Oct 12). I'm trying to find some good areas near me - about 15 minutes west of Boston - that are dark enough and give a good enough view of the horizon to the west. Can you point out any you are aware of in that area?
Have been terrible weather/cloudy for weeks here I live (Norway). But today when I was about to put out two "rigs" for a nightly astrophoto-session, I could see the comet low in the sky. Managed to get a couple of half decent shot with the same lens (Samyang 135) on X-mount - Fujifilm X-H2.
Yesterday was probably the only clear sky we will have to photography the comet. I went up the mountain (the Dutch call anything a mountain if it 20 meters high 😂), but it was enough to avoid the foreground and to have a clear view on the comet. For me the comet was not visible witht he naked eye. Even with the small binocular I could not find it. But the camera picked it up and once it got darker the comet was more visible in the photos. I’ve been editing the photos with Lightroom Mobile and the comet came out great, but also the tail was very difficult to see. This morning the sky was heavily clouded again and it will stay like that for quite a while. So I’m glad that I got a chance to get it when I could. Oh by the way: when I took my last photo, 8 seconds exposure, I scanned the horizon and I saw a huge flare (magnitude -3 or -4) which was visible for only 1 second. I had no idea that satellites could still produce flares. It was in the view of the photo, so I got that as a bonus. After some research I found that it was the Starlink 11309 satellite 🌟
Is there a downside to using a software like Sequator to stack automatically? Or did you just stack in PS for convenience? Trying to figure out my own workflow for A3. Great vid!
Waiting an opertunity to capture an evening image here on the East coast of Australia. Got some nice dawn shots though so cannot complain. I dont have a computer to stack and process Raw files but have them saved for a day when I can. Bit tricky to get a good single jpeg shot using B mode and manualy holding the shutter open while you count 2 sec but I enjoy the challenge.
I got a few pics yesterday evening. Couldn't see it with naked eyes. To many trees block the horizon a bit. Did get it with 5 second exposures at f 2 on a 50mm lens.
in early sunrise heavy cloud cover..Wait for it to pass the sun visible in the west..Storms and heavy cloud cover😪..Aww well i will just wait anouther 80 000 years for the next approach i guess....And it wasnt the comet of the century as some people hyped up that goes to hale bop outher wise i would have seen this in the middle of the day like hale bop was visible
I was just looking at Stellarium planning my attempt. As the days go by the comet will rise higher making it much easier to photograph. So I'll keep trying every evening until I get a good image. EDIT: Got some decent shots tonight. I expect to get better shots tomorrow.
I intend to try and catch it next week, from your notes below I understand that it would be higher in the sky. I think that 135 or 85mm would be my choice as well. Might need to bump it up to 3200 ISO to get more data into the frame. From my understanding tracking is not really relevant, as the comet doesn't follow the usual star-earth planet rotation.
By next week, you may want to track as the comet is dimming every day as it gets further away. I’ve always tracked comets on the normal sidereal rate and had good luck with that. Remember it’s mostly about counteracting earths rotation. There is very little difference between the sidereal, solar and lunar rate (or a hypothetical comet rate)
Hi Nico, wonderful results! Whats your take on the following workflow where only 1 step is extra to everything you just did: Import all the RAW frames to Ps with adobe camera raw. Select all, right click, enhance- in that, keep the noise reduction to say 60. It has been one of the most neat denoisers I've used. Perhaps a Ps Sensei AI feature that's trained very well on raw files. This will create DNG files with Enhanced-NR suffix in the same folder, which you can separately open in Ps and continue with the rest of the process. I know some of us may consider such denoiser a sin. But since I will anyway stack the frames, I would let stacking take the burden of minimizing AI artefacts, if any. (It's too good, I didn't see any glitches as such, but still). Rather than fighting the original noise with a stack. This has drastically reduced the number of light frames for me. Do try and let us know how it goes!
Hi. I live on the south shore in mass and have been chasing the comet and missing it too. I was in Scituate last week and fogs rolled in. Which mountain did you climb? Wachusett?
Yes, but... A pretty bright waxing gibbous moon was already out when I shot it, but fairly far away in the sky. The sunset was definitely the primary limiting factor, not the moon. By the time it’s full moon on Thursday it looks like the moon is even further away, so the sunset may still be the main limiting factor but I’m not positive.
maan why do I always get horrible weather when the comets show up?? I mean maybe the 20th it clears up a bit, but still... And I forgot my dslr, so I'll have to try the incredible combination of bortle 9, cloudy sky and a PnS from 2015, because that's what I've got until I get back to my town
I took my 8" Celestron telescope up to the top of a mountain east of Mesa, AZ on the evening of the 12th and it was almost totally invisible. I used an app to guide the telescope to the position and after seeing it in the eyepiece, I was barely able to see it in the sky. Very disappointing. I'm hoping for better views after it gets away from the sun.
y0, I'm in west Michigan, been trying to see this for past 3 nights, cant find it... is it to dim at this point? i got have binos, and was using star app with phone, it shows that it should be higher then i thought, but not seeing anything...
Its a real shame the comet has, more or less, died a death. The day you took that it was -3.1 the next day (when I got clear enough sky to see it in Binos) it went to 0.2 and today is now 2.1. Southern Hemisphere wins again.
Does the dust tail dim at the same rate as the nucleus? I ask because the dust tail still looks super bright in people’s more current photos. I also wonder how much it getting higher with better contrast will offset the dimming in terms of visibility.
@@NebulaPhotos Happy and humbled to say that I was wrong. Comet was beautiful naked eye with a lovely long tail. Averted vision really made it pop and seemed about the diamiter of 3x full moons in length. I got plenty of photos and would share if I could.
![[DRAGON BALL LEGENDS REVEALS ＆ STUFF] LEGENDS FESTIVAL 2024 Special Edition Part 1](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mV5bGIswTtQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Forgot to mention the camera settings in the video: 2 sec., f/4, ISO1600 (I used 17 * 2" in the PS Stack) Keep in mind with these settings that the comet will be higher and higher in the Western sky this month, but also dimmer, so longer exposures and tracking will be called for soon :)
I finally managed to capture it from Singapore!! 😅 4 second 120mm f2.8 ISO800 Canon EOS 6D Sigma 120-300mm APO DG HSM lens.
Thanks for the processing tips.
Once the skies cleared here, I was able to capture it past two nights. What a thrill. I saw Hale-Bop back in 1996, but wasn't doing this kind of photography then (nore was digital photography a practical thing)😢
If I use a tracker next few nights, any suggestions on PA?
Was thinking MSM.
Since I just got this same gear, should I assume the comet will be in focus with the lens at infinity? Trying to establish focus in the dark just using the viewscreen is proving more difficult than expected. Thanks for any feedback :).
@@johnadastra1754best to use a bhatinov mask to focus
I find the ROKINON 135mm (being manual focus) difficult. I initially focus on something about a block away, tape the focuse ring in place.
The first youtuber brave enough to say the full name of the comet on live TV! 😂 Well done, Nico!!
Ha, had to give it a try 🤣
lol
So I got into astrophotography a few weeks ago. Atlas was my first proper astro photo, which is quite funny given that I almost missed it and didn't even know about it until 4 days before it broke up. I had 1.5hours of data on it with a diy rc servo based equatorial mount. So far this hobby seems fun.
During stacking, when you're manually aligning, you start by aligning layer 2 to layer 1, and then turn opacity of both up, and align layer 3 to layer 2. A better approach would be to turn off the visibility of layer 2 and align layer 3 to the same layer (1) that you aligned layer 2 to. Introduces less errors, since you're always referencing the same static layer, as opposed to a potentially moving target as the small errors from every stack start adding up.
Hey Nico!! - I really loved the little adventure at the start of this mate, and I just want to say the shot starting around 2:50 was evocative, it really stirred up a feeling of anticipation and wonder as the last remnants of sunlight gave way to the darkness of space, superb! 🙂
Tremendous work as always my friend!
Thank you Luke!
I remember what a huge event Halley’s Comet was back in 1986. Our school even arranged field trips to the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Michigan where I got my first views of the universe in the planetarium . My mind was blown at the whole experience as a kid in the 6th grade. It left a lasting impression and triggered my love for astronomy/astrophotography. Thank you Halley’s
Glad to hear you mention "the thrill of the hunt" when it comes to comets. I've been out 3 times now trying to get a good shot of this one with little success, but none of it feels like a waste because just finding a comet in the sky at all feels like a little victory - even if it's just for a moment before the clouds roll in or the morning twilight takes over.
I remember hail bopp comet ☄️ in 1997. That was awesome
Finally supposed to get a clear night here in Wisconsin tonight! Aiming for this tonight and will use this tutorial to manually stack. Thanks Nico.
I saw it with naked eye on Sunday Oct 13, looking over San Francisco Bay from Berkeley. Small hill (50 ft). Got photographs. 30 exposures, 1/10 sec, F2.8, 180mm. Sony A7 IV.
I hear you about "thrill of the hunt". I was looking too close to Venus. The comet was a full hand width away (spread).
Also -- the satellites were VERY prevalent. 4 to 6 per set of exposures. I hand-deleted them on each exposure since they were a dot on each.
Aligning stacks -- I aligned to background stars rather than the comet itself. Much more precise. Also set the layer to "Difference" while aligning, which also allows more precision. Once aligned, set layer to "Luminance, if lighter" in GIMP
Nice video. The result turned out well!
Literally photographing A3 as this video shows up in my notifications. 😂
Fun stuff, thank you Nico and Team, clear skies
Nice work well done. Gonna try the same this week..
Nice view up there. Appreciate the processing, I didn't realize you could drag the layers to manually align like that. I like your sunset result, it's a nice change of pace.
Hoping for clear skies asap.
Wow, this brings back memories! I filmed Comet A3 recently and paired it with a spiritual journey. Shooting from Kunjapuri Temple, Rishikesh made it extra special!
Love the vids!
I got screwed by clouds on the horizon at sunset... twice... ugh... glad you got something.
1:48 ... "I timed this hike to arrive at the top of the mountain just as I run out of oxygen... Will post more from the afterlife"
Did he think about getting back down in the dark?
@@nixl3518 ... Gravity !!
I used Sequator to stack my image. It wroked pretty good. Also I think Im seeing Comet 13P Olbers just passed the tail of ATLAS. Love your videos. thanks for sharing
Nice job Nico. I also found it pretty easy Saturday night. I was still “in the city” so it wasn’t super bright. But, it’s there. We’ll see if it holds together over the next few weeks.
Thanks Andy! I hope so too as it looks like like it will be a week or more before I get another chance to shoot it with the weather up here
Thanks
📷 🌠 Great Tutorial Nico 🌠 📷
I just came back from from taking shots of the comet. I bought the Star Adventurer GTI because of your, and another person's video. Looked like the shots came out well. No editing at the moment but I'm excited!!
Great job. I can’t wait to start photographing the comet. If the weather cooperates. I’m in the same neck of the woods as you
Thanks for sharing. Looks great.
Very informative Nico, many thanks!
Nice job on comet A3 Nico. I was able to see it naked eye from my home in Southern CA on the 12th. I managed a few photos using my iPhone too! A very nice looking comet and a long tail!
lucky you it's totally clouded here, nice shots
Nice, I got a quick camera phone image, but am hoping the weather on Wednesday will let me get out with my DSLR. I was also thinking of the Rokinon 135 so I'm grateful you already did the hard work of figuring out the exposure for me !
Completely cloudy here in Wisconsin until Tuesday. Praying its still bright enough then.
Was too cloudy yesterday, but gonna go hike myself in a couple hours to see what I can get. That's always the issue with trying to catch these low objects in the northeast, hard to find good tree free sightlines unless you're willing to trek around in the dark for a bit lol
hi Nico! I love to see any new and old uploads from you! You are my teacher!❤
On October 17, 2024 at 40 degrees N 79.6 W (southwest Pennsylvania) I got a photo of this comet. Due to a full moon and light pollution I never had a naked eye view. I found the comet by first taking a wide angle shot and used that picture to align my telephoto lens by way of landmarks and stars.
Good job Nico. I lucked out - twice - last week in trying to see the comet befire sunruse here in Sydney. I'm hoping for better luck in the next few days after sunset..
Absolutely so happy for you getting this photo. I'm going out tomorrow in Finland for my hunt.
Hey Nico, nice adventure and catch! I also used the 135mm (Samyang version) for one set which I turned into a timelapse and my AT60ED for my second set that I'm stacking now.
Your end result is really nice! Clear skies!
It’s a good thing I went out Monday night to view the comet because there has been a chance since then.
I will say I was very surprised as to how high in the sky the comet was. I was able to see it with my eyes and through the seestar but i started having issues as the night went on. It was only fairly faintly visible.
Very nice. I got to see and capture the comet on 10/12 as well. I was surprised how easy it was to see naked eye.
Thanks for the insights! We went out tonight to try to see it and we assumed it was too bright just after sunset like this, so we went to dinner and came back out and still could not see it in nearly total darkness. Weather apps said no clouds, but I'm not sure what else it could have been. I was hoping to get it lower like this so we can have an interesting foreground. Tomorrow's another shot!
Looks great! I shot it in the am and also stacked it manually, it was so faint I had to use difference. I hope it'll stay bright with full moon coming
Nice video Nico!
Just found it in my 9x63 binoculars. Wonderful. A very long tail. Tonight more or less between Venus and Arcturas. Was higher than I thought it would be.Tomorow I will get my photo gear set up and try photographing with my Olympus OM-10 I will use either 25mm f1.8 (50mm FF equiv,) or my 45mm f1.8 Probably camera on my eq mount to track a llittle get as long an exposure as I can. I may try you multi shot stacking technique if a get some good single images. So nice image Nico, and thanks for the video.
nice! i did this for the eclipse, Siril lets you manually register images off of a reference image with an overlay, i used it to register images off of the prominences for the darkest exposures, and off of stars for the longer exposures. i would’ve done it in photoshop just like this too, except photoshop uses up so much more RAM and processing power than Siril that it would’ve crashed a dozen times over. So for those people stacking images of this comet, try it in Siril as well!
Nice job. I got similar results here in Connecticut away from as much light pollution as I could. I also face some nights of clouds! Its astronomy so what else is new.
Great video 👏🏻 I captured it today from Pakistan. Here the horizon is quiet hazy but I was able to get it in a 25 second exposure form my mobile phone. Waiting for to raise up a little in a couple of days so I would be able to capture it in darker skies
Hoping to get a chance to photograph it also from NH in Tuesday.
Great video, the comet's name is actually a silent T
I photograph the comet today from a bortal 6 zone it was so nice
I tried last night and couldn't get a good vantage point of the horizon. Two hours wasted. Will try again next weekend earlier in the evening! Nice video thanks!
I just got back from trying to hunt this comet, I got it with a DSLR and my Samyang 135 when it was in the morning but there's WAY too much wildfire smoke in the air at the moment even all the way in Missouri. I'll try again Tuesday and maybe get it in frame with M5. That'll be cool.
A3! A3!
I just saw the comet, it cleared up just enough to see it faintly with the naked eye right before it became obscured by haze, looked ok through binoculars. Hopefully i will have a clear evening soon.
my wife and i were able to see it by eye tonight/13th just after dark . hard to see for the light hi clouds here in n Oklahoma it was about a hand span north of Venus and about 2 fingers width above (real technical i know) planning on trying to get some pics tomorrow wish us luck!!!
Thanks for this. This was perfectly timed for me. I went through a similar adventure. Drove over two hours to try to capture the comet before sunrise. Couldn’t see it visually, but did see it in photos. But it wasn’t very impressive and I didn’t bother (yet) to process the data since I thought it would be lots of effort with unlikely results. Last night was first evening attempt. I have the comet in 750mm and 50mm tracked exposures (also 250mm with Seestar, but for some reason it didn’t save the raw frames as instructed….). But was left wondering how to process this given the aggressive sky gradients and foreground. I will now head to photoshop for the wide field…. Thanks!
Oh... and one question that came to mind - how, in this workflow, could one add calibration frames? I took bias/darks/flats, created masters of them in Siril - but how would I go about integrating those into the workflow to further improve the result?
I've also been contending with clouds when trying to capture A3, i travelled specifically to a place which typically has fewer clouds and yet they're everywhere just this week! But I captured it tonight! Rokinon 135 turned out to be too long of a focal length! The tail is absolutely enormous. And tonight you could even see the ion tail which weirdly enough is pointing in the opposite direction of the dust tail.
I was able to get a good shot of the comet at dawn on October 02 from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico! It was visible to the eye but popped much better with the gopro on a long exposure (5 seconds f/2.5 [fixed] iso 1600)
Hey, Nico! Thanks for this overview of your experience. At the same latitude here in NH and was able to capture A3 just above the treeline of a pasture. It was pretty special. Can I ask where you hiked? Shooting from a mountaintop is still on my list of things to try.
Email me for the location: nicocarver at gmail dot com
My local forecast calls for early afternoon marine layer for the entire week. It's been this way for the last three weeks. Convenient.
Nice. Maybe always select the first layer to adjust the other ones. 🙂
I haven't seen the comet with optical aid or naked eye yet. I saw it in one image taken with a 60Da Canon back on Friday Sept 27 at 6:28am. It was not visible in binoculars. On Monday September 30th I captured five images of the comet just above the horizon at 6:09 till 6:16am at Isthmus Bay on the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. 81 West 45 North.
0:46 SAME! I did capture it my first attempt at sunrise, however, it's a faint blob -- vs the spectacular images Ive been seeing all over SM -- by the time the clouds cleared, it was being washed out by the sunlight 🫥
After that, it was just days of clouds &/or rainstorms. So I waited for it to become a sunset target bc the west side is drier & clearer (typically).
I tried to view it last night, but clouds 🙃😂 Trying again tonight. Another attempt is around 21-23 when it doesnt have to compete w/the moon & closer to the MW.
Fantastic! Waiting here for good weather to take pictures of it!
Question, would you advice Siril for the comet stacking? or photoshop is better?
Siril would be better if it’s high enough to get just the comet and stars without a dramatic gradient from the sunrise. Should be possible going forward. I was limited by how low it was so went with a more simple way of stacking in PS.
@@NebulaPhotos oki thanks!
Great video Nico! I wish it had come out before I went out to get some images (Oct 12). I'm trying to find some good areas near me - about 15 minutes west of Boston - that are dark enough and give a good enough view of the horizon to the west. Can you point out any you are aware of in that area?
Did a nice pic through 110mm binoculars a good but subtil 5-6 degrees of tail. A spectacle for large aperture hand held binoculars.
I am going thursday night to Staunton River State Park in Virginia, near South Boston. Hopefully it will be high enough to get it
Mind the bobcats
Have been terrible weather/cloudy for weeks here I live (Norway). But today when I was about to put out two "rigs" for a nightly astrophoto-session, I could see the comet low in the sky. Managed to get a couple of half decent shot with the same lens (Samyang 135) on X-mount - Fujifilm X-H2.
I took a photo with my IPhone 12 Pro it´s stunning how good Phone Kameras are nowadays
Been cloudy every time I've tried to get it.
Yesterday was probably the only clear sky we will have to photography the comet. I went up the mountain (the Dutch call anything a mountain if it 20 meters high 😂), but it was enough to avoid the foreground and to have a clear view on the comet. For me the comet was not visible witht he naked eye. Even with the small binocular I could not find it. But the camera picked it up and once it got darker the comet was more visible in the photos. I’ve been editing the photos with Lightroom Mobile and the comet came out great, but also the tail was very difficult to see. This morning the sky was heavily clouded again and it will stay like that for quite a while. So I’m glad that I got a chance to get it when I could.
Oh by the way: when I took my last photo, 8 seconds exposure, I scanned the horizon and I saw a huge flare (magnitude -3 or -4) which was visible for only 1 second. I had no idea that satellites could still produce flares. It was in the view of the photo, so I got that as a bonus. After some research I found that it was the Starlink 11309 satellite 🌟
Is there a downside to using a software like Sequator to stack automatically? Or did you just stack in PS for convenience? Trying to figure out my own workflow for A3. Great vid!
Waiting an opertunity to capture an evening image here on the East coast of Australia. Got some nice dawn shots though so cannot complain. I dont have a computer to stack and process Raw files but have them saved for a day when I can. Bit tricky to get a good single jpeg shot using B mode and manualy holding the shutter open while you count 2 sec but I enjoy the challenge.
I got a few pics yesterday evening. Couldn't see it with naked eyes. To many trees block the horizon a bit. Did get it with 5 second exposures at f 2 on a 50mm lens.
I got pictures of it here in California. With my cell phone.
Hi, great video!!! Would it be better to use longer exposure? I'm thinking to bring MSM NOMAD tracker with me and push it to 60s exposure
When I shot it, no because the sunset means I couldn’t. In coming days, yes, because the comet is dimming and will be higher in the sky at dusk.
in early sunrise heavy cloud cover..Wait for it to pass the sun visible in the west..Storms and heavy cloud cover😪..Aww well i will just wait anouther 80 000 years for the next approach i guess....And it wasnt the comet of the century as some people hyped up that goes to hale bop outher wise i would have seen this in the middle of the day like hale bop was visible
Got some photos of it tonight with the DSLR and telephoto lens. Was not as bright as I hoped
Interesting. What time did you shoot and where are you located? It was pretty bright for us in Bortle 4 skies 30 minutes after sunset.
@@RoadtrippinwithTakacs Woodford County, Kentucky. Went out 45 minutes after sunset but it wasn’t very good until another 30-45 minutes elapsed.
Would love to have a crack at processing this data and compare. The weather in my neck of the woods has denied me the opportunity to capture myself.
I was just looking at Stellarium planning my attempt. As the days go by the comet will rise higher making it much easier to photograph. So I'll keep trying every evening until I get a good image. EDIT: Got some decent shots tonight. I expect to get better shots tomorrow.
I intend to try and catch it next week, from your notes below I understand that it would be higher in the sky. I think that 135 or 85mm would be my choice as well. Might need to bump it up to 3200 ISO to get more data into the frame. From my understanding tracking is not really relevant, as the comet doesn't follow the usual star-earth planet rotation.
By next week, you may want to track as the comet is dimming every day as it gets further away. I’ve always tracked comets on the normal sidereal rate and had good luck with that. Remember it’s mostly about counteracting earths rotation. There is very little difference between the sidereal, solar and lunar rate (or a hypothetical comet rate)
Hi Nico, wonderful results!
Whats your take on the following workflow where only 1 step is extra to everything you just did:
Import all the RAW frames to Ps with adobe camera raw. Select all, right click, enhance- in that, keep the noise reduction to say 60. It has been one of the most neat denoisers I've used. Perhaps a Ps Sensei AI feature that's trained very well on raw files.
This will create DNG files with Enhanced-NR suffix in the same folder, which you can separately open in Ps and continue with the rest of the process.
I know some of us may consider such denoiser a sin. But since I will anyway stack the frames, I would let stacking take the burden of minimizing AI artefacts, if any. (It's too good, I didn't see any glitches as such, but still). Rather than fighting the original noise with a stack. This has drastically reduced the number of light frames for me.
Do try and let us know how it goes!
Hi. I live on the south shore in mass and have been chasing the comet and missing it too. I was in Scituate last week and fogs rolled in. Which mountain did you climb? Wachusett?
That would work. I climbed one in S. NH, I’d rather not say publicly which one, but you can email me if curious: nicocarver at gmail
As we grow closer to the full moon isn’t it going to become more difficult to photograph the comet since the moonlight will lit the sky?
Yes, but... A pretty bright waxing gibbous moon was already out when I shot it, but fairly far away in the sky. The sunset was definitely the primary limiting factor, not the moon. By the time it’s full moon on Thursday it looks like the moon is even further away, so the sunset may still be the main limiting factor but I’m not positive.
People who observed a comet in 1965 say that they have never seen such huge spectacular and dazling comet again afterwards...
maan why do I always get horrible weather when the comets show up?? I mean maybe the 20th it clears up a bit, but still...
And I forgot my dslr, so I'll have to try the incredible combination of bortle 9, cloudy sky and a PnS from 2015, because that's what I've got until I get back to my town
Hmm when I do the filter -> maximum the stars get bigger, but it introduces awful moire/banding stuff. Any ideas?
I took my 8" Celestron telescope up to the top of a mountain east of Mesa, AZ on the evening of the 12th and it was almost totally invisible. I used an app to guide the telescope to the position and after seeing it in the eyepiece, I was barely able to see it in the sky. Very disappointing. I'm hoping for better views after it gets away from the sun.
Will I still be able to see it today October 13th?
yes, you can see it for most of the month
y0, I'm in west Michigan, been trying to see this for past 3 nights, cant find it... is it to dim at this point? i got have binos, and was using star app with phone, it shows that it should be higher then i thought, but not seeing anything...
I tried this from a great site on Oct 11 and failed. Bright moon made the location a bust too.
I LOV YOU YO U I AM EUSBRCE TO THE BAOTRN
i wish there was a place with no light pollution in my country 😥
2 attempts, 2busts!
Which mountain Nico?
Email me: nicocarver at gmail dot com - I'd rather not say publicly
Are you gonna capture it with a telescope?
If it stays intact into next week I’ll give it a try (assuming I have a clear night)
Hi
Its a real shame the comet has, more or less, died a death. The day you took that it was -3.1 the next day (when I got clear enough sky to see it in Binos) it went to 0.2 and today is now 2.1.
Southern Hemisphere wins again.
Does the dust tail dim at the same rate as the nucleus? I ask because the dust tail still looks super bright in people’s more current photos. I also wonder how much it getting higher with better contrast will offset the dimming in terms of visibility.
@@NebulaPhotos I should find out the answer to that tonight as it is clear with me and will be out to watch for it.
@@NebulaPhotos Happy and humbled to say that I was wrong. Comet was beautiful naked eye with a lovely long tail. Averted vision really made it pop and seemed about the diamiter of 3x full moons in length. I got plenty of photos and would share if I could.
It's pronounced "Sue chin sun" 😅
"difficult to photograph" meanwhile people with even just an iphone 13 took beautiful pictures of that comet.