On October 24th, during one of my Los Angeles layovers, I grabbed the opportunity and headed a mountain ridge in Los Padres National Forest to capture Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS with the Milky Way.

I started shooting about 10 minutes before the beginning of dark night. This gave me a slight orange glow on the horizon and helped to mitigate the light pollution from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the West. Furthermore, the low western horizon at my elevated shooting position allowed me to capture the Milky Way core reasonably high in the sky, despite the late season.

When it was fully dark, I was able to see Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS with my naked eye. While approaching the inner Solar System, the orbital period of Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was calculated to be about than 80,000 years. However, recent gravitational interactions altered this orbit, and the most current calculations show that it is on a hyperbolic path, meaning that it will never return.

A good time to bid the cosmic wanderer farewell.

EXIF
Canon EOS-R, astro-modified by EOS 4Astro
Sigma 28mm f/1.4 ART
IDAS NBZ filter
iOptron SkyTracker Pro

Sky:
5 panel panorama, each a stack of 6x 45s @ ISO800, f/2, unfiltered & 3x 105s @ ISO3200, f/2, filtered

Foreground:
Forcus stack of 7x 1/15s @ ISO100, f/2.8 during early blue hour

Tags:   Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS C/2023A3 California Asrophotography Astronomy Milky Way Nightscape Starscape Photographer Long Exposure Night Landscape Canon

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September 30, I had the opportunity to photograph comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) during its brief morning appearance.

When I landed in San Francisco, the bay was shrouded in thick fog, but fortunately it cleared up during the afternoon of September 29 and the following night remained perfectly clear.

This allowed me to capture this image of the celestial visitor over the iconic north pillar of the Golden Gate Bridge with the Oakland Bay Bridge in the background.

The comet has been hyped by the media as the “Comet of the Century,” but I found very hard to see with the naked eye. While it is always a special treat to see a comet, Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is still far from a spectacular sight. Over the next few days, it will come too close to the Sun to be visible before reappearing as an evening comet in about a week. It will be at its closest approach to Earth on October 12th, so it's still possible that Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will become better visible before it disappears back into the cosmic darkness. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

EXIF
Canon EOS-Ra
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM ll @ 130mm
iOptron SkyTracker

Sky:
Stack of 6x 5s @ ISO200 f/2.8

Foreground:
Single exposure of 1min20s @ ISO200, f/11

Tags:   comet Tsuchinshan C/2023A3 San Francisco Golden Gate Golden Gate Bridge Nightscape Cityscape Long Exposure Night Landscape Canon Canon EOS R EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM

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Last Wednesday, after shooting the Winter Milky Way in Southern Oregon until the wee hours of the morning, I had the choice between getting some sleep or using the remaining dark night to finally to try my hand at Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF).

Of course, I went for the comet. My small tracker was definitely over its limit with the heavy 200mm lens, but the dark skies of Southern Oregon and some sophisticated processing allowed me to still acquire an acceptable result.

EXIF
Canon EOS R
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L ll IS USM
iOptron SkyTracker Pro
Stack of 62 x 60s @ ISO1600

Tags:   comet Astrophotography Astronomy Astro C/2022 E3 Canon Canon EOS R EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM iOptron Skytracker PixInsight

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2020 has been a very special year to most of us and I am no exception. In spring, my best laid plans went awry within days and the hope for a quick return to my normal life proved to be in vain. It seemed only fitting that the great expectations for Comet ATLAS C/2019 Y4 proved to be a huge disappointment.

On the other hand, we rediscovered what is really important in life. I spent much time with my family and, thanks to the relatively liberal lockdown in Switzerland, I was also able to do a lot of astrophotography in my beautiful home country.

In July, Comet Neowise put up its unexpected show and allowed us to forget the pandemic for some time. While I had the privilege to capture it during several occasions, the best shooting was only a 3 kilometers from my home, over the medieval town Regensberg.

I recently found an unprocessed sequence of this outing and think it makes a great Christmas post. Apart from their obvious connotation as the Christmas stars, comets are also a perfect allegory for this year's ups and downs.

As the year is approaching its end, the approval for several promising vaccinations gives us hope that 2021 will let us return to our old lifes. Until then I hope you all stay safe a bit longer.

Merry Christmas to all!

EXIF
Canon EOS 7D mkii
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L @ 200mm
Skywatcher AZ-GTI mount, modified for astrophotography
Sky:
Stack of 7 x 20s @ ISO1600
Foreground:
Stack of 3 x 20s @ ISO1600

Tags:   comet neowise Astrophotography Astronomy Astro Nightscape Starscape Long Exposure Night Landscape Regensberg Switzerland Swiss@Night Canon Canon EOS 7D mk ll EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM Skywatcher AZ-GTI tracking Stacking

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I spent a perfect night at this beautiful lake in the Mercantour National Park in southern France. It is hard to imagine a more tranquil setting to put up camp and connect with nature and the universe.

As a special treat, an old friend, C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), paid visit to bid its farewell. Check the enlarged detail in the second, cropped image.

Prints available: ralf-rohner.pixels.com

EXIF
Canon EOS 6D astro modified
Samyang 24mm f/1.4 @ f/2
iOptron SkyTracker Pro
Panorama
Sky:
6 panels, each a stack of 6x 45s @ ISO1600, tracked
Foreground:
4 panels, each a focus stack of 6x 45s @ ISO3200

Tags:   France Mercantour Lake Tent Camping Milky Way Milchstrasse Nightscape Starscape Long Exposure Night Landscape neowise comet Canon Canon EOS 6D Hutech Astro-Modified Astronomy Astrophotography Astro Samyang SAMYANG 24mm f1.4 iOptron Skytracker tracking Stacking Panorama Sky

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