#COMET AT DAWN: Set your alarm for dawn. There is a bright comet in the morning sky. You probably can't see it with the naked eye, but even relatively short exposures with digital cameras are picking up the starlike head and long tail of Comet Nishimura (C/2023 P1):

"This morning, I was successful in photographing Comet #Nishimura from Zahradne, #Slovakia, where the comet appeared against a slightly cloudy sky," says Petr Horalek. "Its tail is so bright that I could see it easily in my backyard telescope."

Latest estimates of the comet's brightness place it at magnitude +4.5. In a dark sky, this would be visible to the unaided eye, but the morning sky is not dark. Cameras are required to pluck the comet from the twilight of dawn. Many photographers are finding that less than a minute of exposure time is enough for a nice picture. Horalek's photo is a stack of 20 second shots (ISO 800).

The mornings ahead will be more difficult. Comet Nishimura is plunging toward the sun for a close encounter inside the orbit of Mercury on Sept. 17th. Increasing glare will challenge astrophotographers.

"I am truly happy I made it at least once to see this beauty!" says Horalek.

https://spaceweather.com/