You can take cell phone photos of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS | News

If you missed Highland Road Park Observatory's latest Tsuchinshan ATLAS comet program on October 16, there's no need to worry.

There is still enough time to observe this celestial event on your own in your own sky. And while you're looking at the sky, you can take great photos of the comet with your iPhone or smartphone.

Yes, this comet, also called A3, can be seen without an observatory telescope – or a telescope at all.

“Right now it's shining at magnitude 2.0,” said Judah Santiago, program advisor at the observatory. “That means it’s bright enough to be seen with the naked eye.”

But seeing it with just your eyes depends on what Santiago calls “light pollution” in the area.

In other words, lights within the city can obscure the view. And the Hunter's supermoon, which currently dominates the night sky, isn't helping either.

But on Wednesday evening the moon was at its brightest.

“And the moon should be getting lower now,” Santiago said. “So this will be helpful in observing the comet.”

This is how you see the comet

Santiago recommends finding a dark place to observe the comet. Nevertheless, a good pair of binoculars should also make it visible in city light.

Comet A3 appears on the western horizon about 15 minutes after sunset each night and remains visible for about 45 minutes.

“Tonight the comet will be in the constellation Serpents,” Santiago said. “There are some good stars in this constellation to look for to find the comet.”

For those unfamiliar with constellations, the National Weather Service recommends looking into the western sky, especially on the horizon. A good place to start is the planet Venus, the brightest point of light on the western horizon.

Once Venus shows up, wait. The comet will appear in this vicinity and will be low on the horizon.

“Look for the comet in the western sky after sunset,” the National Weather Service explains on Weather.gov. “The comet will appear as a faint star with a hazy or fuzzy spot behind it.”

Here's how to take the photo

Now comes the fun part – taking photos.

First, point your phone camera at the sky and wait. Often, your phone camera lens can capture nighttime images that your eye cannot.

“Your camera lens has the ability to brighten what you see because it absorbs more light,” Santiago said. “So it has the ability to brighten the sky.”

If you are familiar with your cell phone's camera technology, you should set it to manual mode, which enables an automatic exposure of two seconds.

In an article in Forbes Magazine, author Jamie Carter wrote: “A two-second exposure for a DSLR means the comet should be relatively easy to photograph with a smartphone.”

Carter recommends using a tripod. However, if you don't have one, just hold your phone as still as possible while the two-second photo is processed.

“Your smartphone's 'night mode' (or similar mode) will likely dictate how long the exposure needs to be,” Carter wrote.

The Tsuchinshan ATLAS is a comet from the Oort Cloud discovered on January 9, 2023 by the Purple Mountain Observatory in China. It was also found independently by ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System) on February 22, 2023 in South Africa.

It became visible to the naked eye on September 24th.

“At this point the comet can start to rise a little higher in the sky,” Santiago said. “It will finally descend towards the sun at the end of January.”

It will be visible locally until at least October 24, but Santiago said it will continue to pass through December.