Photos of the Day: My Snapshots of Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS!

Richard T. Par

A few hours ago, I drove down to Summitridge Park in the city of Diamond Bar to take photos of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)...which will be visible in the evening sky for the next two weeks or so. Once it heads back out to the Oort Cloud two light-years away, comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS won't return to our inner Solar System for another 80,000 years!

I used my Google Pixel 5 and Nikon D3300 DSLR camera to capture these snapshots. Here are the settings that I employed on my DSLR:

Lens: 70-300mm Nikon telephoto lens
ISO: 400 to 1600
F-stop: f/5.6
Shutter speed: 2.5 seconds
Live View mode on my LCD screen used instead of the viewfinder

I plan on heading back out to capture more images of C/2023 A3 as it gets higher up in the sky over the coming days. This is my second comet in over four years (after comet NEOWISE in July of 2020) that I was fortunate enough to take photos of from Los Angeles County, CA!

Hope you guys are having a nice weekend.


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par

Photos of the Day #3: Snapshots of NEOWISE...One Last Time

Happy Friday, everyone! Just thought I'd share these pics that I took of comet NEOWISE from my backyard (again) in Pomona, California, last night. I was pondering about whether or not I should've went to Joshua Tree National Park yesterday or Wednesday (when NEOWISE made its closest approach to Earth at a distance of 64.3 million miles, or 103.5 million kilometers) to capture additional photos, but for financial reasons I decided to stay home since I didn't want to risk putting wear-and-tear on my car. Here are the settings I used on my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera:

Lens: 70-300mm Nikon telephoto lens
ISO: 800
F-stop: f/5.6
Shutter speed: 8 seconds
Live View mode on my LCD screen used instead of the viewfinder

Seeing as how I finally managed to spot NEOWISE on my own last night (without the use of binoculars), I wanted to end my comet-photographing campaign on a high note...so these are the very last images I'll take of this celestial body as it heads back into the far reaches of our solar system. Thank you for putting on a show for us quarantined Earthlings for the past couple of weeks, comet NEOWISE! If I was immortal, I'd say see you again in 6,800 years... Carry on.

Photos of the Day #2: NEOWISE Above My Neighborhood!

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Just thought I'd share these impromptu pictures that I took of comet NEOWISE from my own backyard in Pomona, California last night! The reason why I call these impromptu is because I didn't plan on taking photos of the comet yesterday... I was just taking my usual evening walk around the street when I saw one of my family members standing outside the house and looking up at the sky with his binoculars. Of course, it was a no-brainer for me to head back inside to get my tripod and Nikon D3300 DSLR camera to capture images of NOEWISE after it was obviously located in the sky! Here are the settings that I used:

Lens: 70-300mm Nikon telephoto lens
ISO: 800
F-stop: f/5.6
Shutter speed: 8 seconds
Live View mode on my LCD screen used instead of the viewfinder

I was thinking about going to Joshua Tree National Park tomorrow (when the comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance of 64.3 million miles, or 103.5 million kilometers), but considering the fact that I've had a very difficult time finding the comet on my own when I took photos of it on July 10 and July 18 (random strangers had to point NEOWISE out to me both times I shot pictures, and I still had a hard time spotting the celestial body with binoculars last night), I don't think it's wise of me to take a 2-hour drive to the desert when I'll probably be alone at the site trying hard to spot the comet in the sky...but we'll see. The comet should be high enough above the horizon on July 22 for me to take additional images from my backyard. It's Los Angeles County's stupid light pollution that will spoil these pictures, though. I'll think about it.

Photos of the Day: Comet NEOWISE After Dusk...

Good morning, everyone! Just thought I'd share these photos that I took of comet NEOWISE from Summitridge Park in Diamond Bar, California yesterday. These four pics were taken between 9:28 PM and 10:07 PM—with sunset being around 8:01 PM last night. NEOWISE is pretty high up in the sky now...to the point where you can see it below the constellation Big Dipper as opposed to near the horizon (as seen in the images I took on July 10).

By this Wednesday, July 22 (when NEOWISE makes its closet approach to Earth at 64.3 million miles, or 103.5 million kilometers), the comet should be even closer to the Big Dipper. However, it's best that you definitely travel outside the city to catch a glimpse of this celestial object (with a telescope or binoculars) before it disappears for good early next month (NEOWISE won't return to our inner solar system again for another 6,800 years). I had to use Photoshop to adjust the contrast on these pics since the sky was hazy and also brightened by the light pollution of Los Angeles County.

Anyways, here are the general settings that I used last night. I'll see if I drive far this Wednesday to take some final photos of comet NEOWISE with my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera... Carry on!

Lens: 70-300mm Nikon telephoto lens
ISO: 800 and 1600
F-stop: f/4.5 to 5.6
Shutter speed: 2.5 to 8 seconds (try to stick with 2.5 seconds, unless you like star trails)
Live View mode on my LCD screen used instead of the viewfinder

SOLAR PROBE PLUS Update: Catching a Cosmic Glimpse of Comet NEOWISE from Afar...

NASA / Johns Hopkins APL / Naval Research Lab / Parker Solar Probe / Brendan Gallagher

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Spies Newly-Discovered Comet NEOWISE (News Release - July 10)

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe was at the right place at the right time to capture a unique view of comet NEOWISE on July 5, 2020. Parker Solar Probe’s position in space gave the spacecraft an unmatched view of the comet’s twin tails when it was particularly active just after its closest approach to the Sun, called perihelion.

The comet was discovered by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or NEOWISE, on March 27. Since then, the comet — called comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE and nicknamed comet NEOWISE — has been spotted by several NASA spacecraft, including Parker Solar Probe, NASA’s Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory, the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, and astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

The image above is unprocessed data from Parker Solar Probe’s WISPR instrument, which takes images of the Sun’s outer atmosphere and solar wind in visible light. WISPR’s sensitivity also makes it well-suited to see fine detail in structures like comet tails. Parker Solar Probe collected science data through June 28 for its fifth solar flyby, but the availability of additional downlink time allowed the team to take extra images, including this image of comet NEOWISE.

The twin tails of comet NEOWISE are seen more clearly in this image from the WISPR instrument, which has been processed to increase contrast and remove excess brightness from scattered sunlight, revealing more detail in the comet tails.

The lower tail, which appears broad and fuzzy, is the dust tail of comet NEOWISE — created when dust lifts off the surface of the comet’s nucleus and trails behind the comet in its orbit. Scientists hope to use WISPR’s images to study the size of dust grains within the dust tail, as well as the rate at which the comet sheds dust.

The upper tail is the ion tail, which is made up of gases that have been ionized by losing electrons in the Sun’s intense light. These ionized gases are buffeted by the solar wind — the Sun’s constant outflow of magnetized material — creating the ion tail that extends directly away from the Sun. Parker Solar Probe’s images appear to show a divide in the ion tail. This could mean that comet NEOWISE has two ion tails, in addition to its dust tail, though scientists would need more data and analysis to confirm this possibility.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Johns Hopkins APL / Naval Research Lab / Parker Solar Probe / Guillermo Stenborg

Photos of the Day: Capturing Comet NEOWISE...

Earlier today, I got up at 3:30 AM to head to a hilltop vantage point about ten miles from my house to catch a glimpse of comet NEOWISE...one of the brightest comets to light up our sky this century. Ever since it made and survived its closest approach to the Sun on July 3, NEOWISE has been getting a lot brighter—to the point where you don't need a telescope or binoculars to spot the celestial object (though they would obviously still be useful in doing so). You need to wake up early like I did through this weekend to catch this beautiful spectacle in the sky; it will be on July 15 that you can start seeing NEOWISE in the evening! It will be visible (to the northwest) about an hour after sunset.

I'm so stoked to have taken these shots of NEOWISE with my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera, but needless to say, I definitely want to head back out because I can do better! Assuming that the comet doesn't start fizzling out as I type this, it should be getting brighter and higher in the night sky over the rest of this month...making it easier to photograph. It will be on July 22 that NEOWISE will make its closest approach to Earth (at a distance of 64.3 million miles, or 103.5 million kilometers), so I definitely need to try to take pictures on that night. In regards to my camera settings, this is what my Nikon D3300 was set to for these images:

Lens: 70-300mm Nikon telephoto lens
ISO: 800
F-stop: f/5.6
Shutter speed: 2.5 seconds
Live View mode on my LCD screen used instead of the viewfinder

And in case you're wondering, the first two photos are slanted because I was standing on the slope of a hill. I didn't have time to level my camera's tripod as NEOWISE was fast emerging above the San Gabriel Mountains here in California while the sky was getting brighter. Happy Friday!