I have fond memories of comet-hunting during covid, so I was disappointed when clouds and the city-glow of Baltimore hid Tsuchinshan from me... During our family call, my parents told us how the sky-map I'd sent let them find it, and with the comet racing into the distance and a billion years until it's next pass, I figured I'd give it one full-send try. I wouldn't be upset if I failed, but I wouldn't be the reason I didn't see this comet.
Standing on my roof and scanning the sky with binoculars, I still couldn't see it. Based on the position of Arcturus I knew it would still be up for just over an hour, so I picked some empty roads 25 minutes north on my old motorcycle route and set out, listening to astronauts trying catch a comet to save the remnant of humanity.
Approaching my targeted spot, I searched for a good spot. I wanted the top of a hill, good western exposure, somewhere I could pull fully off the road, and no streetlights. A mile shy of my target I passed a winery, with a long driveway heading into dark fields, down and west. Perfect. I parked in the drive, grabbed my camera bag, and headed down the drive away from the lighted sign.
I knew I only had 45 minutes or so, so I immediately set to work searching. Nothing up there is a comet. Dammit. I checked the star maps, I knew where in which constellation it should be, but I couldn't see anything. During our family call my dad had asked "Have you tried taking a long picture anyways?" ...And with no other options, why not? I took out my camera, carefully set my focus with the moon, and then took a wide-angle picture of where it should be, still on all my aurora settings, to see what fifteen seconds could see.
The comet was immediately obvious. Even better, it was lined up over a tree in the distance, giving me a general point to aim for! So I re-framed and took twenty more. Why not? Maybe I can stack them, maybe one is better than the others, the auto-timer should eliminate the minor shudder from pressing the shutter release...
These turned out so well <at least when viewed on a 2" screen> I brought out my zoom lens! Same process: set focus on the moon, point it over that tree, and trigger. Nothing. So I tweaked the aim slightly and shot again. GOT IT! So, of course, immediately took 10 on the delay setting.
Ten 15-second exposures takes a while. Enough for me to start wondering "can I really claim to have seen it if only my camera saw it?" I'm no philosopher, but tonight is about going for it. So I grabbed my spotting scope out of my trunk and headed back to the camera, just finishing it's tranche.
For the next 20 minutes, I alternated between spamming the auto-timer, and laying on the pavement while slowly panning the scope over the distant tree. But I found it! Faint and blurry, but it definitely counts. Eventually, I couldn't find the comet in either the scope or my photos. I called it a night, packed up, and drove home listening to spacewalkers ride a comet through perihelion.
Custom stack of (6) 8s... Not bad for something invisible |