My Backyard Image of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)

[Tim Clark]

Hello SAS Comet Seekers,

On Tues morning I shot (15) 90 second exposures of the comet with a DSLR camera on a Stellarvue 60mm apochromatic refractor scope mounted on an iOptron Sky Guider Pro tacking mount from my backyard in west Stockton.

Thanks to Jason Keyes who was a big help to me in processing the image because I initially had a problem with the comet being blurred. (Think about it- You're tracking the celestial motion of the night sky but the comet is moving slightly relative to the stars). 

And thanks to Jeff pointing out the "anti-tail". Yes, it's a real thing I didn't know about. Below is the wiki on that:

Tim

From Wikipedia:

An antitail is an apparent spike projecting from a comet's coma which seems to go towards the Sun, and thus geometrically opposite to the other tails: the ion tail and the dust tail. However, this phenomenon is an optical illusion that is seen from the Earth. The antitail consists of larger dust particles, which are less affected by the Sun's radiation pressure and tend to remain roughly in the comet's orbital plane and eventually form a disc along the comet's orbit due to the ejection speed of the particles from the comet's surface. As Earth passes through the comet's orbital plane, this disc is seen side on, and appears as the characteristic spike. The other side of the disc can sometimes be seen, though it tends to be lost in the dust tail. The antitail is therefore normally visible for a brief interval only when Earth passes through the comet's orbital plane.

Most comets do not develop sufficiently for an antitail to become visible, but notable comets that did display antitails include Comet Arend–Roland in 1957, Comet Kohoutek in 1973, Comet Hale–Bopp in 1997, and Comet PANSTARRS in 2013.

[Jeff Baldwin]

Cool!

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[bal...@comcast.net]

Not shot Tim:

 

I’m planning on taking many exposures and stacking them. How long the exposures will be will depend on how well I can tune the tick counting. I’m hoping Jason will coach me on stacking. My plans at this time are to stack the images with respect to the comet so there will be streaked [or dashed] stars. I’m also planning on doing deep exposures and less deep so when I put them together I’ll get details in the outer tail as well as in the coma and nucleus, sort of like stacking different exposure times on a solar eclipse to get outer and inner details. Again, I’m hoping Jason will coach me on this.

 

If anybody plans on going somewhere a bit dark to shoot this, let me know and I’ll try to join you. Hwy 4 may be ok it’s just a crazy drive to get to it right now. I may call Amador Station and see what their snow depth is right now, they’re close to the Heliport.

 

Baldy

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[Jason Keyes]

Tim that looks great! It's tough getting the fainter parts with all the city glow.

Jeff and anyone else, I should be able to go next weekend (Fri or sat eve) to someplace dark, if anyone has any ideas on where to go? Not sure how the moon will be then. But maybe it'll be set by the time the comet comes into view.

Let me know!

Jason

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[bald...@comcast.net]

Next weekend, not this one but next one? The Moon will be HUGE.

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[bald...@comcast.net]

OK, that was supposed to say “nice shot Tim”, not “not shot Tim”.

 

Doh!?!?!?!?

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[Jason Keyes]

I know, the moon is always a bummer for us

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[Jason Keyes]

This weekend, I might be able to meet up, after work sat, if hwy 4 is an option

On Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 4:37 PM <bald...@comcast.net> wrote:

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[bal...@comcast.net]

Hey Jason:

 

How late? What time?

 

I guess the place that was washed out was after you drive east from Farmington, and then later turn to the north, it goes down a bit. That was where it was flooded out. Not sure what the deal is now.

 

Baldy

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[bal...@comcast.net]

Here’s the current forecast.

[Jason Keyes]

I should be able to get off at 730ish, so I could come straight fr work and be there about 830 or so

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[bal...@comcast.net]

I plan on getting there earlier than that to start in on my tick counting. See you there.

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[Jason Keyes]

Sounds good! I'll get there as soon as I can from work. Let me know about the road, if I need a detour or if the regular route is available.

Thanks! See you Saturday!

Jason

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[bal...@comcast.net]

If I can I will, however, my cell phone hates that area and frequently won’t work there [or Peddler or the Heliport]. Not sure why I have a cell phone . . . . .

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[Bob Jarrett]

Diagrams for the anti-tail of Comet C/2011 L4 PANNSTARRS 5/21/13

 

https://www.universetoday.com/102299/what-do-comet-panstarrs-and-pinocchio-have-in-common/

 

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[Jeff Baldwin]

It is possible that I'm off by an hour on Mars. Be ready for an 8:00 event instead of a 9:00 event. Not sure at this time.

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[Jeff Baldwin]

Sun is boring today. New country western song: "There ain't no spots and my horse broke".

[Mark Teixeira]

I can’t wait to retire. So I can look at sunspots and view any time it’s clear!!!

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 1, 2023, at 1:35 PM, Jeff Baldwin <bal...@comcast.net> wrote:



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[bald...@comcast.net]

And take a nap any dang time you want.

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[Mark Teixeira]

Hi Jeff

Curious 

What’s a reasonable ask price for the 6” refractor that’s in the Valley sky’s? 

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 1, 2023, at 6:59 PM, bald...@comcast.net wrote:



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