Comet C/2023 A3 shares the sky with the Milky Way

 Last night was the first clear night since the full Hunter's Moon on 17 Oct.  With no bright moonlight in the early evening, comet C/2023 A3 is easy to see in the western sky as twilight fades.  It is visible to the unaided eye and is a spectacular sight in binoculars.  The tail stretches about 14 degrees.

The measured sky brightness toward the north was sqml=21.0 mpsas.  In the camera there was strong red airglow visible.  In the images below, the layered airglow in the western sky is very distinct, although it is essentially invisible to the eye.

Comet and Milky Way.  8:05 pm MDT. Sony A7iii + 20mm f/1.8 G, no filter.

8:06 pm MDT.  Hoya Softon filter.

7:48 pm MDT.  Sony A7iii + Samyang 35mm f/1.8 AF + softon filter.

The Hoya Softon filter makes the relative brightness of the stars more apparent and the constellations become easily visible.

8:25 pm MDT.  Olympus E-M1iii + Sigma 56mm f/1.4 + softon filter.

8:13 pm MDT.  Olympus E-M5iii + Rokinon 135mm f/2.

The anti-tail is still visible.  It is becoming more diffuse and no longer aligns with the dust tail.  This image approximates the view I was seeing in 10x50 binoculars.

Click on an image to enter Gallery View and get access (via right click) to the full-size versions.