OCT 13, 2024       - Broemmelsiek Park 

Found the comet first "by Seestar" (go-to), but despite multiple efforts as the evening wore on, it would NOT record an image!  I later learned the Seestar was rejecting the images due to both rapid movement of the comet (closest to Earth on this day) and bright twilight hampering enough stars to confirm the plate-solve.  Later on in the evening, I just did a screen-grab in order to salvage "something" from the Seestar.   The comet was naked-eye, but barely, and mostly by averted vision.

Meanwhile, I managed multiple images with the Nikon D3100 @ ISO 3200, 130mm, f/5, 2.5 seconds.   A few of the best of these are featured here.   The tail was estimated to be about 9 degrees in length.   Probably 20-ish people at the park to see it.

 October 15, 2024  - Broemmelsiek Park

The "mission" for the 3rd night was to get some foreground to go with the comet in the background.  I had permission from the SCCP for our members to utilize the Agronomy area at the park, as the crowd was getting larger and our imaging group members often have issues with the "public" being with dogs and/or children running around expensive equipment.  As it turned out, those imagers did not come at all, and instead the newer imagers wanted to stay close to learn more and thus stayed at the astronomy area.

Not to waste a good permission, I went solo to the agronomy area, and I picked out the vine-covered windmill there to be my foreground object.    The comet had lost some brightness, not in the tail (which was excellent, again an easy 10*) but in the nucleus.  Prime time now that it was higher in the sky was between 7:30 and 8:00 PM, but images near the horizon typically make a better photo composition.  Having a nice tall windmill was helpful!   No idea how many at the park this night but from car traffic seen it was likely around 40 or more.  Most attendees were 1 person per car and from my vantage point I could see that there were some parked on the driveway and in the grassy parking area.

The Seestar, due to the comet moving a little slower now, was able to achieve 3-minute exposures.  This brought out the anti-tail a little better.  The DSLR was set (mostly) to 55mm, f/4, ISO 1600, 5 seconds. (2-5 on occasion).

October 16, 2024 -  From home in Lake St Louis

I decided to image the comet this night from home, so that folks who "weren't inspired" to drive 20 minutes for a good view could see what they were missing from just outside their doorstep.  Only three neighbors (of 9 invited) came out to see.  The comet was almost impossible to see naked-eye, due to both local light pollution (3 streetlights) and a nearly full moon.  The tail was, of course, somewhat diminished by this, but still looked fairly good in my images.

October 18, 2024  - Broemmelsiek Park

[On Oct 17, I joined other club members with telescopes at the Weldon Springs Interpretive Center for a public viewing  (and full moon hike) there.  The comet was the main celestial event, although we showed the Moon and Saturn as well.  No pictures were taken, and the comet was very hard to see / detect naked-eye due to the nearby lights in the parking lot we sat up next to.]

October 18 was our regular Friday Night "Open House" at Broemmelsiek and we had a noticeable mix of imagers, regular attendees, and newbies wanting to see the comet for the first time.  

The comet nucleus and its' tail have faded some, but this was one day after full moon so there's hope for more naked-eye viewing in probably a couple of days.  The comet was barely detectable, with averted vision, approximately between 7:30 and 8:00 PM.  More like "Detectable" than "Viewed" naked-eye.   I had the Seestar working alongside my 10" dob so that folks could view via either one.  Easily over 100 people and perhaps as many as 150 in attendance.  I felt exhausted from this busy week and I packed and left around 9:30 PM as the comet was setting and the majority of the crowd had departed.   It felt weird that I was leaving so early and while some 30 or more were still there.  Not typical of me on a Friday night!

The Seestar showed the anti-tail no longer straight in the plane of the comet's orbit.  So it was shifted a little.  I managed up to 6 minutes of exposure, but both it and a 5-minute exposure unfortunately show movement of the comet nucleus.  The two-minute exposure shows a better nucleus.

        2 Minutes                                                                                                       6  minutes                                                                                                         5 minutes