Oct 12, 2024 – Observed from Victoria Centre Observatory (VCO)
6 Observers: Kevin Bertels, David Lee, Reg Dunkley, Wyman & Sandy Lee, Susan Grady.
RASC Victoria Centre members observed the comet from the observing pad outside the VCO after sunset.
A number of us gathered at the gate to the Hill at 6pm in anticipation of either elation or disappointment. Not knowing what to expect we came armed with binoculars, small telescopes and cameras, a mini expedition.
We set up facing west waiting for the Sun to set behind a ribbon of clouds at the distant hillside. We spotted Venus first, this was a good sign as it was higher up than I expected and the comet would appear to its right slightly higher. All summer I had scanned these hills after sunset looking for Venus using a wide field eyepiece in my 70mm refractor. This technique proved useful when I discovered the bright comet head amongst the clouds. Eventually we had to turn to the cameras to see the comet and its tail in the fading light. Amazing! – David Lee
Oct 12, 2024 – Observed from other locations
I hope you had good seeing conditions this evening. Here are a couple of pictures I took of the comet from Hospital Hill (North Saanich) once the tail became visible and shortly before it disappeared in the west coast clouds. – Carlos Francisco Mena Cerén
Sweet! I had a nice look at comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS from the Metchosin cricket pitch near my house. Quite a bit brighter than I was expecting, and moving fairly quickly among the distant treetops. Too fast and low for photos, but there will be opportunities in the coming weeks. – Sherry Buttnor
Here’s my capture of the comet from Highrock Park in Esquimalt this evening. There was a small group of people looking for the comet and we all waited patiently for it to become visible then tracked it as it moved through the layers of clouds. This image was taken at 8:42pm. I was able to see and image it starting around 7:20pm I believe. This was one of my last shots before it set behind the last of the clouds and mountains – Megan Meraz
Clover Point October 12 – brought out the Dob and a couple of extra pairs of binoculars for the event, which helped before the comet was visible with the naked eye. Some joined for this, as well as viewing the moon before sunset and for Saturn after the comet passed. A wonderful night filled with excitement by all who stopped by. – Zen Dedekind
Oct 13, 2024
I got a picture of the comet even with this cloudy forecast! From North Saanich with Mill Bay in the background. – Carlos Francisco Mena Cerén
Oct 17, 2024
At first, w/ 6×30 binoc at about 7:20, I thought I’d found the comet and it was very small and much dimmer. A star seen through thin cloud can mimic a comet. Wrong. I mis-identified Mr. Komet. It’s there! 2° tail. Thin clouds & twilight make it low-contrast. Pretty big (head) — maybe 1/10 or 1/5 the diameter of the full moon. It really needs a big binoc tonight. 15×56 just right.It was an absolute threshold observation with 6×30 binoc. If I hadn’t already pulled it in w/ 15×56, I may not have seen it in 6×30. I was looking out over Beacon Hill Park from Heywood Ave. – Larry Manuel.
I was out at Mt. Tolmie, Kirsten had her short refractor, Brian had some binoculars. There was also some curious onlookers. Between all of us we did a bit of hunting to find it. It helped once the sky darkened and we could see Arcturus and a few observers with binoculars found the head of the serpent Serpens Caput and that helped locate the comet. I confirmed with my camera. It was definitely dimmer than on the 12th and skies were murky enough it was quite low contrast even in Kirsten’s refractor. We saw it though. I hope there are clearer skies before the end of the month. My image is assisted through software stacking. I chose to shoot untracked 85mm focal length using relatively fast (1 sec) shutter speed, a fast aperture f3.5 and moderate ISO 1600. The stack of 51 images smoothed out the sky variation and improved the signal to noise just enough. The light noise that was left I used Topaz Photo AI Denoise. It probably wasn’t necessary but it gave it a more polished look.- David Lee
David, I admire your continued success in finding this comet and those who have shared their efforts. So here, with apologies is the best I could do last evening. I never actually saw it and almost missed it in my photos. Mike Webb
Oct 20, 2024
In spite of the sketchy weather the comet continues to make an appearance at dusk. It’s higher in the sky and it’s about a fifth of its brightness compared to the 12th of October. It’s well positioned in Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer. It’s getting easier to find. Tuesday may be even a better night. Based on emails many of you have seen it. If you haven’t, there’s still time, binoculars and small instruments are recommended. – David Lee
The comet over the water from Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia – Charles Banville
The comet I took on Sunday from Brentwood Bay. I haven’t taken the time to process them. – CJ Sandoz
I finally spotted Tsuchinshan-ATLAS for myself last night. Just before 8pm, looking over the Sooke Basin. – Gerald Schieven
