Comet Over Roque Nublo

From the photographer: “From Corral de los Juncos, on the summit of Gran Canaria, the scene unfolds. After climbing at sunset—with Mount Teide silhouetted against the horizon—the wait for nightfall reveals Roque Nublo and Bentayga in the foreground, with the comet above them.

Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was discovered in January 2023 independently by the Purple Mountain Observatory in China and the ATLAS system. It passed its closest point to the Sun in late September 2024 and its closest point to Earth on October 12, at a distance of about seventy million kilometers. It was the brightest comet in two decades from these latitudes, with a tail visible to the naked eye. Its orbit spans tens of thousands of years, so whoever saw it those days saw it forever.

That night presented a problem and an advantage, one and the same. Between 9:15 PM and 10:10 PM, while the shots were being taken, the Moon was 97% illuminated and rising in the east, going from less than twelve degrees in altitude to more than twenty-three. That light bathed the entire landscape, making Mount Nublo, Mount Bentayga, and the surrounding slopes visible with almost daytime detail—impossible on a dark night. But the same light that illuminated the ground was also dimming the sky. As the Moon gained altitude, the background lightened, and the comet’s tail lost contrast. It was one of those nights where everything cannot be had, and a choice must be made. In this case, the landscape won.”

Technical details:
Fujifilm X-T5
Fujinon XF16-55mm @ 16 mm
(Benro Polaris mount with tracking switched off)
Stack of 169 frames, 8s,  f/2.8, ISO 800