C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

The obligatory image of comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in Serpens Caput along side the Milky Way from Cedaredge, Colorado, October ©2024 hopkins/neoscenes.
The obligatory image of comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in Serpens Caput along side the Milky Way from Cedaredge, Colorado, October ©2024 hopkins/neoscenes.

There are far more spectacular shots out there in the web, given the continuing development of astrophotography tech. The sensitivity of CCDs and the precision manufacture of the optics seem to be the main drivers.

The nights where the brightness of the comet was at a maximum—at 0.4—I was in Echo Park where the view of the western sky was blocked by the canyon walls. When I got back home it was overcast until the 19th where it showed up, still easily visible to the naked eye, though the apparent magnitude had already dropped significantly. The full moon and the non-dark-sky-lit Delta, Colorado didn’t help, lighting up the clouds and brightening the general background darkness of the sky.