Two comets and an asteroid in the constellation Leo

Interstellar comet 3i/ATLAS made its closest approach to Earth today (168 million miles or 270 million km).  It reached  peak brightest of about magnitude 10 over a month ago.  It is currently near magnitude 11 and on its way out of the solar system.  It is designated as an "interstellar" comet because it has a hyperbolic orbit, meaning it is going too fast to be gravitationally bound to the sun. 

These images were obtained at 5:30 am MST while the comet was near its highest point in the sky.  Equipment: Olympus E-M5iii camera, Rokinon 135mm f/2 lens, ZWO AM3 mount.

Sky brightness was measured as sqml=19.8 mpsas, slightly darker than the previous evening.

Comet 3i/ATLAS, stack of 7 images. 1-deg FOV

 Comet 3i/ATLAS is the fuzzy blob at the center of the above image, which is a stack of seven images obtained over a period of about 10 minutes.  The stars are elongated because the comet was moving.  When the images are indexed to a fixed star, the comet looks elongated instead:

Comet 3i/ATLAS, just left of center.

Not too far away in the constellation Leo is periodic comet 24P/Schaumasse.  This comet is currently the third brightest in the sky (3i/ATLAS is fourth) at about magnitude 10.9.

Comet 24P/Schaumasse.  1-deg FOV.

 Also in the constellation Leo is asteroid (7) Iris.  As its name indicates, it was the seventh asteroid discovered, in 1847.  It is the fourth brightest object in the asteroid belt.  It is currently at magnitude 10.

Asteroid (7) Iris (circled)