Comet C/2022 E3 with the EOS M6 + Ra (PICS)
1 month ago
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iPhone 13 Pro Max (77mm / 3x Lens) - A distant storm over Sydney city.
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With a week of heavy clouds blocking any chance to Photograph this Comet (C/2022 E3 (ZTF) when it first appeared in our Southern skies in early February 2023, the weather predictions showed clear skies the other night so I took the opportunity to drive out to the lower Blue Mountains to photograph it. The original EOS M camera was the first camera I photographed comets with and I'm glad I did because it forced me to think harder about which lenses might perform best with this subject based on camera sensor size. I'd shot two other comets with the EOS M6 + EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM lens and was fairly happy with the results but I normally use my EOS Ra (astrocamera) for comets these days.
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EOS M6 + EF-M 32mm lens (two exposures, one for the foreground)
iPhone 13 Pro Max + 0.5x Wide Angle Lens - The view from the lookout.
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The lookout I used to regularly shoot at is now losing its once majestic vista due to trees growing and blocking the view East - which you can see in the image above. You used to be able to see all the lights and suburbs below from this carpark. I no longer shoot here unless it's an overhead eclipse. Hence, I moved on immediately to another location nearby that has an unobstructed Northerly view and a clear view South for Polar Alignment.
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I arrived here on time and precisely at sunset. So there was plenty of light to set up and it didn't take long for the first stars to appear. I don't have tracking set up on the Celestron tripod but if I align it properly I can usually use a longer lens with exposures of 20 seconds or more without any star trails. With a regular tripod I can only expose for about 2 and a half seconds before the stars begin to trail when using a lens at 400m or so. The mosquitos were waiting for me but I was ready for them. A bat snapped at insects that were drawn to my white flashlight clipped to my pocket whenever I turned off the red LEDs. I was mindful of the threat of Funnel Web spiders in the dark here due to wet summer conditions right now.
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Incidentally, (on the subject of spiders) I was bitten on the inside of my wrist by a 'Redback Spider' last night moving things in my garage. This is a highly toxic spider but it was a juvenile that bit me as I lifted some wooden panels - so it may not have penetrated far with its fangs or only a small portion of venom was injected. My wrist is red at the bite site right now but it stopped stinging last night about an hour after the bite. I ended up killing four more - but at 11x more toxicity than the North American 'Black Widow' spider, they present a risk. My wife almost got bit at the same time by an adult sized one but I saw it before it touched her fingers and took action. This is why I don't store my larger tripod in the garage.
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EOS M6 + EF-M 32mm lens - Waiting for the light to drop. That storm is in the distance.
EOS M6 + EF-M 32mm lens - Setting up the main camera on a Celestron CGX Mount.
iPhone 13 Pro Max (handheld) -
Doing a basic polar & laser alignment when the first stars became visible.
EOS M6 + EF-M 32mm lens (Tungsten White Balance used).
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Viewing the comet was easy with any of the cameras on hand. Unfortunately this comet had lost its three, visible tails and it was just a little too faint to be spotted with the naked eye. The EOS M6 and EOS Ra cameras had no trouble viewing the comet though and you can see on the Live View (see image below) just how clear the green coma around the comet was when magnified on the LCD.
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But with the sun having recently set and some thin atmospheric cloud plus nearby city lights, the sky wasn't particularly dark enough for me. I later switched lenses to the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L II USM lens and ensured I was zoomed in to around 278mm to keep the aperture as wide as possible (f/5) whilst still using the zoom of the lens to get in a bit closer to the comet.
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EOS M6 + EF-M 32mm lens - showing the green comet on the Live View LCD of the EOS Ra with the RF 85mm f/1.2L USM lens attached.
EOS M6 + EF-M 32mm lens -
The Pleiades (Lower Left), Mars (near center) and Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF (below and to the right of Mars. This is a single wide-field exposure without tracking or assistance. I might stack some images later.
EOS Ra + EF 85mm lens - laser aligning with Mars (comet to the right). (RAW to JPEG)
EOS Ra + EF 100-400mmL II lens - Mars and the Comet - single exposure with limited tracking. Unfortunately the moon was rising at the time this was taken. Cropped a little.
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I found the pictures from the EOS Ra to be acceptable but nothing special compared to what other photographers were getting last month because the comet was not as bright as we had hoped. The Comet had lost its distinctive tail although a smudge of muddy color to the right of the main (green) glow hinted at the remnants of it. I needed to use a laser that I'd fitted to my payload plate to more accurately align the camera when using the longer zoom of the EF 100-400mmL II lens. I took other images of things like the Carina nebula (not shown here) but surprisingly I've had better results with that target using just a regular Manfrotto tripod and a mere 5 or sometimes 6 second exposure with an 85mm lens.
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I didn't bring my Airpods (earphones) with me because I don't want to be distracted by music at night and have an animal (or person) creep up on me unannounced in the dark. And I needed two hands to operate the camera and controller for the mount... but I had an urgent call from a friend who needed to speak with me. So I packed up as quickly as I could and returned home which enabled me to phone her from the in-car speaker system.
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My favorite shots of the evening were not those of the comet but the images of the storm and the setting up of equipment - taken with the EOS M6 camera. The iPhone was fine for daylight shots and demonstrated why it is an alternative to carrying my EOS M cameras with me. But despite it being a fairly recent mode, the handheld image quality at night (not shown here) was smeared and less than ideal.
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EOS Ra on the Celectron CGX Equatorial Mount. The red glow is from the red LEDs on the battery pods mounted to the legs of this tripod.
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Regards,
Marco Nero.
