SUNSET: 
0
Photographer:
Pepe Chambó
Location of Photo:
Farm Hakos, Namibia
Date/Time of photo:
2024 July 26, 17:43 UT
Equipment:
Takahashi FSQ106-ED f/5.0, Moravian C3-61000
Description:
I continue to track comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) from the southern hemisphere, where it will still be observable for a few more weeks before it enters solar conjunction. Its total brightness has increased by almost a magnitude since my last observation exactly a month ago, now standing near magnitude 9.5, with a dust tail that has doubled in length to 0.5 degrees. Additionally, this is the first time I have been able to capture its ionic tail, very faint but noticeable, emerging at an angle of about 15° below the dust tail. The brightest bluish star is 55 Leonis, with a magnitude of 5.9, in this 2.5-degree wide field full of tiny galaxies.
