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Very nice Josef. Here another view from my backyard. Capella and the stars of Perseus and part of Cassiopeia can be seen shining through the aurora.
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After 8 p.m. I parked on 65th Street, walked to the field and took pictures of the aurora from my tripod. Suddenly I noticed a bright, almost vertical band to the west. I began to wonder what it was. For a few moments I thought it might be the tail of the now set comet A3, which has suddenly become very bright and only the tail is visible. However, it was obvious that it was not a comet, rather it was related to the aurora.
It was probably a phenomenon called STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement), see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STEVE.
2024-10-10_20:22:49 CDT, Canon EOS T6, 18mm, f3.5, ISO3200, 4 sThe constellation of the Corona Borealis is at the top center. More to the right is the constellation of the Boötes behind the pink aurora, the bright star Arcturus is lower in the center. On the upper right are the two stars of the handle of the Big Dipper.
The sky situation at the beginning of the public observation at Watson Soccer Fields. Two prominent celestial lights can be seen here: Venus and Arcturus. Comet A3’s height above the horizon was about 1.7 degrees lower than Venus. It is probably obscured by clouds in this image.
Tomorrow, Saturday, October 12, comet A3 will be 3.6 degrees higher at the same time.
Who is up for chasing down comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS on Saturday? We still have an open invitation to Salem Glen on Sunday, but weather is looking a bit sketchy. I would like to take every opportunity to see it and hopefully get a better view than in the attached images from the morning of October 2. It was not visible naked eye or in binoculars.
I would try to see it around 6:30 to 7 pm tonight. It will be almost due West and at the same elevation as Venus above the horizon. The comet climbs higher over the next few days and I’d love to see it next to M5 on the 15th at 7 pm or so. Root river has a good view of the due W horizon.
Going to check out the comet at Root River tonight. I’ll try to be there before around 7:00 and wait for the sky to dim. I’ll be there until about 8 when the comet sets.
If you’re already heading there then I will try to get out there as well.
darn cloud situation has changed quite a bit in the last 2 hours.
In the early evening, I went to Dakota Middle School. There’s a good view of the western horizon from there. On the way, I took a 50th Ave NW I noticed an unobstructed view of the western horizon in the gap between the houses so I observed from 50th Ave NW. I tried to capture the comet by camera. At about 7:10PM I saw the comet in the binocular and at about 7:20PM I saw the comet with my naked eye. It is a great comet and it will be even better!
This was a much more gratifying view of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS! The clouds parted for an unobstructed view and it dewed up and clouded up once the comet set.
Aurora Borealis just from NW Rochester backyard tonight October 7th.
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