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Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Leo (Leo)  ·  Contains:  Solar system body or event
Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura over Lake Michigan, Sept. 9, 2023 - 5:30am, psychwolf
Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura over Lake Michigan, Sept. 9, 2023 - 5:30am
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Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura over Lake Michigan, Sept. 9, 2023 - 5:30am

Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura over Lake Michigan, Sept. 9, 2023 - 5:30am, psychwolf
Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura over Lake Michigan, Sept. 9, 2023 - 5:30am
Powered byPixInsight

Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura over Lake Michigan, Sept. 9, 2023 - 5:30am

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Description

I set up for live viewing of the Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura before it rises right at sunrise. One of the things I like about the overlook nearby where I live is the peace and quiet, while listening to the waves crashing against the bluff with Orion high in the eastern sky, night birds calling overhead, and a beautiful moon. 

Venus likes to dance amidst the low fog or disruptions in the atmosphere with the water moving below it and I had to have a look in the binoculars. During this time it's hard not to look up in awe and just enjoy the view as a welcome break from fumbling with equipment in the dark to set up another telescope.  I've become used to carting everything into my 4-door economy car, and the setup becomes faster every time, but it's still never without a glitch or two or a need to stop and take deep breaths after lugging heavy equipment. That's why I image early, so I can come back at a better time this week if the weather cooperates, with optimizations noted. This image is just one exposure of 60 seconds, being unable to register and stack on the comet.

When the comet reached about 5 degrees above Lake Michigan I was nervous we'd hit lake fog or not see it and the eVscope was almost perpendicular to the ground sucking up fog images in the live view projected on the tablet. But then it arrived into the view just where it was expected to be based on our calculated RA/Dec coordinates where we were waiting for the comet a bit after 5:30am. As we regularly do for our Unistellar eVscope science missions, I calculated the ephemeris/GPS location, to predict the exact RA/Dec where the comet was going to be, which is a big help since this comet is so new it's not in a lot of catalogs. Sky Safari does have it too.

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Comet C/2023 P1 Nishimura over Lake Michigan, Sept. 9, 2023 - 5:30am, psychwolf

In these public groups

Short exposures DSO
Suburban Astrophotography
Comets Imaging
EAA and Video Imaging
Milwaukee Astronomical Society
ZWO ASI 2600MC PRO
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