Comet C/2023 A3

This is my quickly acquired image of Comet 2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS taken on the evening of October 16th 2024 around 7pm. It was not visible with the naked eye from the St John's Cemetery but was with my camera. I hoped to get the ground in the image for perspective but I did not have time to wait so I just went to as much of the comet as possible. The tail was enormous at approximately 18 million miles (29 million km).

As reported by Adam Block, the thin part that points towards the horizon is due to previously released dust in its orbit. The comet orbits on a plane and we are seeing the plane edge-on.

Comet 2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

Date: 10-16-24

Camera: Canon T3i/600D
Telescope: Canon EF 50mm f/2.8L Lens
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 50mm
f/2.8
Focal Reducer: none
Mount: iOptron SkyGuider Pro

Filter: Astronomik OMB Clip-in
Exposure: 40 x 5s
ISO: 800
Temp: 18 C
Processing: PixInsight, Photoshop