​I managed to quickly set up the little Seestar S50 telescope just outside our cabin in town and capture this stunning comet low in the western sky.

It was not ideal conditions because of all the lights from the local hotel that was across the road…but I took the chance and I caught myself a beautiful comet :-)

​ I love the pretty green colour of the coma and its long delicate flyaway tail that stretched right up the sky. Images taken with a Seestar S50 telescope four images were stacked in DSS and very lightly processed in PS, the pretty green colour in the image is natural.

There is an excellent article from the UNSW in Australia that explains why comets heads are green by chemist Professor Timothy Schmidt, the link is at: https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2021/12/comets--heads-can-be-green--but-never-their-tails--after-90-year
​

We were not expecting that!
 
I grabbed my husband and camera and raced up to the top of Mt Tamborine to try and see if we could see the comet…. and Wow, I spotted the comets tail still in the very light twilight sky, which was amazing. As it got a little darker it came out in all its glory :-D
 
It was a bit smoggy from a bush fire low on the horizon, and I think that’s why the coma area of the comet was glowing a golden colour.
 
Images were taken between 7.30 – 8pm 20th January 2025, with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 18-40mm lens on a tripod with exposures from a couple of seconds up to 30 seconds; ISO was from 200 to 1600.

We have had thunderstorms nearly every afternoon since the comet started its journey outward having survived its touch with the Sun.  My husband and I raced up to Mt Tamborine west of the Gold Coast to get a clearer view of the western sky.
 
To my dismay there was a lot of smoke in the sky, it did make for a beautiful coloured sunset photo but for any chance of seeing the comet, well we would just have to wait and see!
 
I took some test shots with the camera and at 6.40pm you could just make out the comet low in the western sky, fantastic! Also, by this time the full Moon was now coming up in the opposite direction - Oh dear :-o  - Oh well - I did the best I could; the main thing was I got the Comet…Yay!
 
I really think if there had not been smoke and light from the Moon then the Comet would have looked truly spectacular.
 
My Images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and 18-400 Tamron lens on a tripod with numerous exposure settings from 2 seconds to 4 second and ISO from 400 to 3200.

After a whole night of observing in my observatory, I opened the door and looked to the east at the pretty dawn sky and saw a very faint smudge; I asked myself could that be the comets tail?
 
All I had with me was my little Canon G7x Mark 11 point and shoot camera so I rested it on the car bonnet and took some images…Wow, yes there it was!
 
To my delight you could clearly make out this huge faint gas tail going right up the horizon, I just wish I had come out earlier and taken some images, but that’s all right I’ve managed to capture it anyway :-)
 
This Canon camera is just amazing for night-time shots, because its lens goes down to F1.8; the settings for these photos were 5-second exposures and ISO3200. I always use manual focus for infinity that way the stars are in focus.
 
I’m at my dark sky site at my Stardust Observatory in Leyburn, QLD, Australia.

​~ Wow! Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) at dawn (4:32am) in Australia on the 1st October 2024 ~
 
Wow, I could not believe my eyes when I went outside at 4.30am and saw the comet naked eye low in the eastern sky, it was as clear as could be; it was so exciting!
 
I had to work very quickly as dawn light was approaching, in the end I really had only about 6 minutes to work with but I’m so thrilled to have captured it…Woohoo!
 
My images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens, exposure time was 6 second with ISO800 and they are only one-shot images.

Time of images from 4.32 to 4.38am, after that, the sky was just too light :-D

After taking those lovely pictures of Venus & Jupiter earlier in the western sky at sunset, I waited until it got darker to try and find and capture that elusive Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). 
 
This Comet has been putting on quite a show in the northern hemisphere as it headed toward the Sun, but now it’s heading back out of the Solar System and becoming fainter.
 
Observers here in the southern hemisphere are only just seeing it, but not at its best and where I am here at home with all this cloud and urban light, it’s impossible to even find with the naked eye in the northern sky.
 
So using the star chart App called Stellarium and aimed my camera and lens up near Mars in the constellation of Taurus, I took some long exposure images and got it in between the clouds!
 
It was ever so faint but you can see make it out above Mars; I’ve also captured the two star cluster in Taurus, Hyades and Pleiades. It’s not the best picture by a long shot… but at least I captured it :-)
 
Images taken with a Canon 70D camera and 18-400mm lens, the Comet images were between 6 and 10 second exposures with ISO1600 & 2500.

I travelled out to ‘My Stardust Observatory’ specifically to try and take some images of Comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) in a dark sky and was rewarded with one clear night of observing.
 
The comet was easily seen and positioned near the bright star Dschubba in the head of the constellation of Scorpius and showed a lovely clear tail. The pretty greenish colour is due to emission of diatomic carbon gases and looked just stunning among the countless stars in this part of the starry sky.
 
I wanted to do a wide field image to capture the full beauty of this colourful area of nebulosity around the brilliant star Antares so I used a Canon 70-200mm F2.8 lens and Canon 6D Mark 2 camera that was piggybacked on top of my tracking Meade 10inch LX200 telescope.
 
The first image was a wide field taken at 135mm with 25x2 minute images stacked in DSS and processed in PS CS4…. The second image was taken at 200mm with 5x4 minute images stacked in DSS and processed in PS CS4.
 
The Comet made its closest approach to Earth on the 14th July 2022 and from observations it seems to be still brightening. It will reach its closest point to the Sun at perihelion on December 19th 2022.
 
If you want to keep a live track of the comets journey through the stars please go to The Sky Live at: https://theskylive.com/where-is-c2017k2
 
Happy Comet Hunting, Noeleen :-)

Have you ever wanted to learn the night sky?
Join Noeleen from the Southern Astronomical Society to see how easy it is to find the constellations, planets and other beautiful celestial objects in the night sky, even from your own back garden.
 
Please scan the QR code on the poster below to book or go to GC Libraries What’s on at:
https://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/libraries/Whats-on?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D160827310

Noeleen Lowndes is the former president of the Southern Astronomical Society on the Gold Coast and is now a lifetime member. She has actively been involved with astronomy and space education for over 25 years and has supported Gold Coast Libraries with astronomy events since 2003.
 
Noeleen has been a member with NASA’s Saturn Observation Campaign (SOC) for the past 20 years where she educates the public on NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn, then shows the real planet through her large telescope to everyone’s delight.

~ Gold Coast Libraries for 6 – 12 years old ~
 
~ Discover the planets in our Solar System ~
Southport Library  - Tuesday, 11th January 2022 at 2 - 3pm
Every planet in our Solar System is so incredibly different. How did NASA take all those amazing pictures of the planets and send them back to Earth for us to see? Come along to the library and lets discover how they did it!
 
~ Discover Our Amazing Moon ~
Burleigh Waters Library - Thursday, 13 January 2022, at 2 – 3pm
The Moon is our closest neighbour in space, how old is it, what is it made of and how does it light up our night sky?
Come to the library and lets discover all these things and how mankind is going back to the Moon and building a Moon base…Wow!
 
~ Discover and explore the night sky ~
Helensvale Library - Tuesday, 18 January 2022, at 2 – 3pm
Have you ever wondered why the stars are different colours, or where you can find the constellations in the night sky? How do you use a telescope and what will you see with a pair of binoculars? Come along to the library and see how to discover so many amazing things in the night sky from your own back garden.
 
Bookings are essential at:
https://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/libraries/Whats-on
 
Presented by Noeleen Lowndes, Southern Astronomical Society Member (Gold Coast)
https://sas.org.au

​The sky cleared enough this evening to finally have a look at Comet Leonard…Yay!
 
We’ve had lots of cloudy weather here for many weeks with an active Cyclone still off our coastline called Cyclone Seth. The last time I saw the comet was on the 19th December when it was very small and faint.
​(Please see my previous post)
 
I had to take these pictures from home where there are a lot of urban lights, but it didn’t matter as I could just make out the comet in the western sky and capture it with my camera…. Wow, it’s got such a long tail :-D
 
First image was taken with a Canon 70D and a Canon 70-200mm lens @ 140mm, 25 x 4 second images captured with corresponding dark frames that were stacked in DSS with ISO3200.
 
The second image shows you how light the sky was and how low the comet is at 8.30pm, its just one image taken with the same lens set at 70mm, with a 10second exposure and ISO1600.