I heard about C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) a few days ago and was determined to see it with my own eyes. And yesterday we did! It was visible to the naked eye and even more visible with binoculars. So tonight I decided to pull out the telescope to see if I could get a better look. I was able to get a close look at the comet itself, but doing that meant I didn't see as much of the comet's tail which is what truly makes this comet sighting special.
My oldest son had the bright idea to take a few pics with his iPhone. Surpisingly enough they turned out rather well. Both of my sons have a natural talent for such things. Which made me think that perhaps youngest son's phone would also work. My phone is a much older model and there was no way it would take a photo of anything in the darkness of the night. The photo you see is from youngest son's phone (iPhone 13 Pro) using 3x zoom and me standing as still as possible. I'm pretty pleased with the result. The fact you can see some of the stars in the outer edges of the photo was quite the surprise. The image tech in mobile phones is darn right impressive.
So did you get a chance to see the comet? They say we'll be able to see it for a few more days before it is no longer visible. By the way how do they know it was here 80,000 years ago and that it will make a return in 80,000 more? Yeah, yeah. I know. Orbits, science, and such.