If you’ve been searching for an excuse to mud off your digicam, two upcoming comets present the proper alternative. First, comet Lemmon shall be at its most seen between October 13-23 and might be as brilliant as Magnitude 4, that means there’s an opportunity it might be seen with the bare eye. October 21 would be the very best evening to see it, due to the brand new moon, and also you may even catch the Orionids meteor bathe, too.
Then, the primary half of November and would be the very best time to take lengthy exposures of comet 3I/ATLAS — though at a predicted Magnitude 10, you’ll nonetheless want a digicam, binoculars or telescope to have the ability to see it.
Photographing a comet isn’t so totally different from shooting the moon or a meteor shower, but it’s far more thrilling, since comets are often once-in-a-lifetime sights — comet Lemmon won’t be around again for another 1,150 years! We’ll be going through what gear you’ll need to capture the comets and recommending our favorite models for all budgets, plus what settings to make use of and composition tricks to get the perfect pictures attainable.
What you may want
Which camera should I buy?
Technically, any camera can do the job if you know what settings to use. That said, some are better suited to astrophotography than others. Some high-end cameras — like our favorite astrophotography camera, the Nikon Z8 — have a dedicated astrophotography mode designed for low-light shooting, with other models like the Sony A7 IV boosting the brightness of the monitor to help with composing your shot in the dark. We also love the OM System OM-1 Mark II for comets and meteor showers specifically, where Live Composite really comes into its own for long exposures.
The two most important factors you need to have in a camera are good noise handling (which, annoyingly, is something you can only really find out from actually using it), and enough controls on the body to adjust the aperture, shutter speed and ISO independently to avoid having to dive into the menus. This is a small but useful thing to have, as it makes manual shooting ten times easier when you’re out in the field and need to make adjustments. Most full-frame models have enough physical controls to make manual shooting much easier when you’re out in the field, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re buying a beginner astrophotography camera.
Most newer cameras have in-built intervalometers to shoot multiple exposures without having to press the shutter continuously, but if you’re using an older camera or a DSLR, a separate intervalometer or shutter release remote is also a handy accessory to have.
Which lens is best for photographing comets?
Tripod
As astrophotography requires long exposures, it’s not possible to do this handheld, so a sturdy tripod is required. You don’t need to spend a fortune, but if you can afford to invest in a good quality tripod, it’ll last you longer and be constructed from sturdier and more rugged materials. We loved the Benro Mach3 when we reviewed it.
Photography accessories that make comet photography easier
There are plenty of useful accessories that make photographing comets easier, which can also be utilized for other styles of photography. A good headlamp with a red light will preserve your night vision and help navigate remote trails, and a power bank ensures your electronics don’t run out of juice.
How to find the comet
Each comet appears in a different part of the sky depending on your location, its trajectory and how far it has traveled, so astronomy apps are incredibly useful for locating your subject. There are plenty available, and you can search for your subject and the app will show you when and where to look.
Stellarium is a favourite of ours, however Sky Safari and Star Walk are additionally wonderful decisions. It’s additionally a good suggestion to test gentle air pollution maps to discover a darkish spot away from metropolis lights.
Camera settings
Shooting a comet is very similar to most other types of astrophotography, which is great news if you already know what you’re doing. Shoot in manual mode so you can adjust all your settings yourself, and you’ll need to set your lens to manual focus. Set your aperture to as wide as it can go in order to let the most light in, and divide 500 by your lens’ focal length to determine the best shutter speed to prevent unwanted star trails.
Your ISO should be somewhere between 800 and 3,200, depending on the brightness of the comet and the amount of light pollution or ambient light. Start around ISO 800 and increase gradually — it’s better to take a few test shots than risk too much noise. Finally, you want to make sure you’re shooting in RAW so you can process the images afterward to bring the most out of them without destroying the original file.
Composition tips
To give your comet photos a sense of place and scale, include a foreground element. This can be anything — a mountain, a tree, bridge or a landmark works beautifully. Try to capture the coma (head) of the comet as well as the tail, and you can also experiment with time-lapse photography or shooting multiple calibration frames to stack them together afterward.
Watching without a camera
Are binoculars good enough to view a comet?
If you want to use binoculars handheld, go for 8×42, 10×42 or 10×50. If you have a second tripod, you can power up to a 12x,15x or even 20x magnification. Or, if you really want to invest, image stabilization is surprisingly effective for stargazing, but the best image-stabilized binoculars don’t come cheap.
What sort of telescope do I need to view comets?
Comets don’t come around often, but when they do, they offer a rare chance to capture something truly spectacular. With the right preparation and a bit of patience, you’ll be ready to make the most of the next one that streaks across our skies.
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