Recently, my social media feed has been filled with pictures of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), which visited us in September before dawn and in October at sunset. Since this comet won't return for about 80,000 years, I decided I needed to capture it too. So, I left home with my DSLR camera, a tripod, and of course, my smartphone. I headed to a spot in my village with a clear western horizon.
On my way, I passed through the town square where I met a young boy, 16 years old Yoav Gabriel Aizik. He asked where I was going with my camera equipment. I told him I was going to try to catch the comet and invited him to join me. He happily accepted, and we walked together to the observation point.
The western view showed us Haifa Bay, which is also a large industrial area. The evening clouds and pollution from the factories didn't help us spot the comet. We waited for Venus to appear, and then for Arcturus. The comet was supposed to be near the midpoint between them. We couldn't see it with our eyes, and my first camera photos were too bright to spot it on the small screen.
Then Yoav asked how he could take a long exposure photo with his simple Android phone. I explained how to use the PRO mode in the camera app, set a low ISO (50-100), and use the longest exposure time his phone allowed (10 seconds). He set up the app, steadied his phone against a nearby lamppost, and took a picture. He then sat on a rock, scanning the image, and suddenly shouted, "There it is!" I looked at his photo, and indeed, the comet was there - very faint, but definitely visible!
Now knowing exactly where to look, I took several pictures with my camera to process later at home. Then I replaced my camera on the tripod with my smartphone and took more photos.
In all the pictures, we could barely identify the comet, but later image processing with apps like Lightroom Lite and Snapseed made it much clearer. I've attached several phone pictures and one final image that combines multiple DSLR camera shots.
This story shows how even with simple equipment like a smartphone, and a bit of patience and knowledge, anyone can capture amazing celestial events like a passing comet. It also highlights the fun of sharing such experiences with others, like the young boy who joined in the adventure.
The Fist Image from Yoav's smartphone. The Comet is very faint in the center.