20260414 Comet 2025 R3 Hunting

Woke up at around 5:00am without alarm, pulled out the S30.

The sky is getting some twilights, low in the horizon, scanned with my Canon 10x30 IS but not much luck.  I have no star chart but just scan around near the horizon.

The S30 is struggling too.  The first frame was captured when it says horizontal calibration failed.  It was all white, the twilight was there already.  I should reduce the exposure after it settles with its initialisations and autofusing.

Time is running out, no chance to lower the exposure.

Mission failed, temperature close to zero wthout wind.

Call an end at 5:28am, mission failed.

Images taken by Seestar S30 so far...

Got it around twenty days ago, I would use it whenever the sky was clear.

These were what I got, straight from the Seestar, meaning stacked, stitched or cropped, processed and color tuned by the Seestar.  

20251202 Short Observation Session with only S30

Comet 2025 K1 Atlas 30s exposure for 2 hrs

NGC7789 20s exposure stacked for 1 hr, exposure lowered due to field rotation

C17 and C18 20s exposure stacked for 30 minutes

No edit, direct output.

20251101 Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon again

 

Taken with a 533mc with a Canon 200mm f2.8, 120s exposure, I believe around ten frames stacked.

Processed the image taken on 2025/10/25, taken with a Canon 6D with a 200mm f2.8, 60s exposure ISO 1600, around 16 frames stacked.  I messed up with the color and ended up making it monochromatic.

20251025 Comet C/2025 A6 (LEMMON)

Finally got a clear night.

Armed with my Canon 18x50 IS, I got the comet without problem.

Finishing my quick dinner, pulled out my EQ mount and placed it on the pier, no time to do polar alignment again.

Started some 60s exposure with my Canon 6D.  This is a newly acquired camera after selling my DIY modified Canon 450D, guess what, it covered more than half of the cost of the 6D and this is my first full frame DSLR.

Canon 200mm f2.8 wide open:

Will process it later, now the same setup was slewed to M31 for some test shots.  I won't do long focal length stuff, an old full frame DSLR should do the job quite well in the cold Scottish winter.

2024/10/19 Comet C/2023 A3

I got nothing, but the sky was clearer than last time.

Last time was 14th of October, the lower part of the sky was partially covered.

20240322 12P Comet

 

Less than perfect sky, captured a few short exposures, probably below 10s each, stacked together to form the above before the comet sinked below neighbour's roof.  Just a record.

Canon FD 300mm f2.8L DIY modified to fit on my Canon 70D, tracked but unguided.

2023 Feb 13 Comet C/2022 E3

Watched it briefly last month with my 18x50 IS before dawn from my very light polluted front yard.

Did some imaging tonight in my backyard, no tracking with my Canon 70D with a 50mm f1.8 closed down to f2.2, cropped and around 8 images stacked.  Forgot to use the raw mode.

No second chance for cloud rolled in.

Comet C/2020 F3 Neowise

I got it finally, after one more un-recorded failed attempt, so after four failed attempts, I got it.

200mm f2.8 ISO 800 8s cropped, 23 frames stacked.

This is the first time I really took an image of a comet, and this is also the first time I really process the image of a comet.

Another version: 105mm f4 ISO1600 6s slightly cropped, 8 frames stacked.

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****************** Some more results pending..........

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Waiting for the sky to get darker.

Got it with my Canon 24-100mm f4.

And then I pulled out my Canon 200mm f2.8 to capture some more close up, while waiting, I took this selfie with my setup, 8kg total which includes:

Canon 70D
Canon 24-105mm f4
Canon 200mm f2.8
Velbon tripod
Sky adventurer
Canon 10x30 IS for visual observation

The comet tail was apparent with my Canon 10x30 IS, the site was very bright as shown in the above picture, and so I couldn't see the comet with naked eyes.  Actually, only a few stars could be seen with naked eyes.  But once it's located with the binoculars, it's easy to point at it.

Failed evening attempt on C/2020 F3 NEOWISE

We might see this comet in the evening sky, so I went to a nearby location to try.

The moment just before the sun went down behind a small hill top nearby, it was a bit cloudy.

Another failed attempt on C/2020 F3 NEOWISE

In order to avoid foggy weather, I went to another campsite (黃石營地) where we might be able to have a relatively clear East to NE horizon.  But since it's on the sea side, the temperature was much higher at 30 degree C inside the tent.

So, I couldn't sleep much and I woke up at around 4:00am myself before the alarm clock.

The first shot looked quite promising?

Here is my tent:

As time went by, more cloud came out.  I kept scanning around with my Canon 10x30 IS but then I saw nothing.

After the sun came out, I cooked a simple breakfast and left as soon as possible to avoid the hot weather.  I bought myself a cold drink while waiting for the bus.

A bonus shot of the milkway before sleeping, taken with a Canon 24mm f2.8 pancake lens, 14 shots stacked:

Failed attempt on C/2020 F3 NEOWISE

I planned a day off on 9/7 in order to prepare myself to capture the comet.

I will have to find a place where we might have a clear view of the East or NE, and since it will rise very early in the morning just before dawn.  

My first plan was in the East Dam of High Island Reservoir but then I couldn't setup a tent, and transportation is either expensive or I will need to walk for two hours.  So, I gave that up.

My second plan was in Tai Mo Shan where there's a campsite nearby the potential observation spot.  Therefore, I took the plunge to calculate whether the view would be clear:

And it seems feasible, so after dinner, I packed up my stuff and went out.  The sky was a bit cloudy but it's not without hope.  I arrived the bus station at around 23:15 waiting for the bus scheduled at around 23:25.

Armed with minimal camping setup, I've a just a tent and a small stove with a titanium cup for boiling water for the cup noodle breakfast tomorrow.  I also had a small bottle of Yakult.

Summer night was not too hot up there in the campsite, but it was super hot at home.

The humidity was very high, and it was very foggy with strong wind.  My half pitched tent was blew down.  I setup the alarm clock at around 4:30 and I have prepared myself to walk around 10 minutes to the observation spot.

On waking up, I heard some stepping sound around my tent.  There's no body around the campsite, anyway, on going out, I saw a cow plus super thick fog!  So, I gave up and sleep again.

At around 7:00, the cow was still there as well as the fog.

After short breakfast, I went to the observation spot to check whether my calculation is correct or not, but then it was full of fog!

I believe that it's no good to attempt any observation on the hill, here are some more shots during my morning walk:

Packed up my stuff and caught the bus on 9:00, and then back home for sleeping.

My stuff:

Canon 70D, a 24mm f2.8 lens, a 50mm f1.8 lens plus a 200mm f2.8 lens, a simple carbon fibre tripod and a pair of Canon 10x30 IS.

Some Chinese keywords:

荃錦營地

露營

夏天

彗星

白果之旅