In another prolific astrophotography marvel, city-based Astro Photographer, and owner of LeOrion Observatory, AJ Singh captured a unique comet in collaboration with Craig Stocks from a dark sky area based in Utah on 2nd February 2023.
While AJ is one of the most sought-after Astro photography enthusiasts in the region, his teacher, Craig Stocks is one of the finest Astro Photographers and a master of this art. He is the owner of Utah Desert Remote Observatories and provides a mount for deploying telescopes and giving remote access to those who want to utilize night skies to the best.
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a long-period comet from the Oort cloud that was discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) on 2 March 2022. It orbits the sun in 50,033 years and might have been last spotted in the ice age.
The comet was bright, having a visual magnitude of 5.6 and was easily visible to the human eye with the aid of binoculars and a small telescope. It made the closest approach to the Sun on 12 January 2023 and went past closest to the earth between February 1 and February 2.
The comet had a bright green glow around its nucleus, due to the effect of sunlight on diatomic carbon and cyanogen. The nucleus of the comet was estimated about 1 km in size and rotates about its axis in 8.5hrs to 8.7hrs. Its tail of dust and gas extended for millions of kilometres, and an anti-tail was also visible in January 2023.
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) and Mars
This was a collaboration project of Craig Stocks, AJ Singh, and Stephanie Euda Captured on 11 February 2023.
The comet was moving fast with a speed of 39km/s and some beautiful sights of the comet were captured when it went past Mars between 11th February and 12th February and made a spectacular view in space.
Night Sky View (using DSLR) from Chandigarh
Night skies in the city were clear in the past and it made it easy to locate and trace the comet and capture it quickly. Very low time second exposure was used to capture these images.
Utah Desert Remote Observatories, Utah, USA
UDRO, Utah is one fine place where there is no light pollution nearby which helps to capture the night sky views perfectly. The skies remain clear for most of the year, which helps to gain more data within a minimum time interval.
LeOrion Observatory, Mohali, India
LeOrion Observatory is located in Mohali, Punjab and it serves astronomical events to the public. It is a place where one can see more objects in one night than Galileo has ever seen in his lifetime. It is primarily engaged in planetary and deep sky Imaging.
A Spectacular View
One beautiful bright planetary conjunction was captured on 22nd February 2023 by AJ Singh. The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter made a heavenly and spectacular view in the sky.
Upcoming Astronomical Event
On 1st March 2023, Jupiter and Venus will align in close conjunction in the night sky just after sunset and will pass each other in the upcoming days and soon Jupiter will be out of the night skies. Venus will continue to rise high and shine bright, making the sensation of the brightest evening star.
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