Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) - one to watch

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Ross Wilkinson

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Sep 2, 2022, 3:41:48 AM9/2/22

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This comet was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar back in March, and I first detected it last month.

It's only around 12th magnitude at the moment, but will brighten over the winter, potentially reaching magnitude 6 in February (https://people.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds/2022E3.JPG) at which time it will be high in the sky too.

Meanwhile, I got another image of it last night, and its tail is quite prominent:

Stack of 46x 1-min with Mx716 on C8 at f/3.5

Ross Wilkinson

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Sep 25, 2022, 11:51:46 AM9/25/22

to Bolton Astronomical Society

Last night I tried another imaging run on this comet. I collected 73x 1-min exposures, but after I'd taken out the ones spoilt by satellite trails, clouds, the neighbours' floodlight and the comet "setting" behind an adjoining roof, guess how many I was left with to stack?

This comet is still around 12th magnitude (and already showing a tail) and is expected to get a lot brighter over the coming winter months...