Clear skies tonight, so a chance to look for Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) high in the sky over my garden. It’s currently close to the line between the Ursa Major pointer stars, Dubhe & Merak, & Polaris.
Too much moonlight & suburban light pollution to think about a naked-eye view, but it’s easy with my 15 x 70 binoculars: a fuzzy blob with no obvious nucleus, at least handheld.
And easily seen in a 30 sec iPhone shot taken on a tripod 👇
I’m not quite sure why the comet shows an apparent nucleus and very diffuse coma in the iPhone photo, when it looks completely fuzzy and not very centrally condensed through binoculars. But iPhone Night Mode processing is a weird beast at the best of times.
@markmccaughrean Could be an effect of motion blur. A short shutter speed can capture detail we're incapable of comprehending in real time with the naked eye.
