Possibly the brightest comet of 2025, comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS has been dazzling the Southern Hemisphere sky watchers, including Newcastle residents ,over the past few days in what has been called a Celestial Spectacle.
The comet will be passing by again this evening 20 January just after sunset and will be around for a while.
Dr Daniel Cunnama, science engagement astronomer at the South African Astronomical Observatory said that these types of astronomical events were quite rare.
“These comets are fairly rare and it is pretty rare to have one that is visible to us. It’s at the moment very, very close to the sun, so if we do have a chance and it it is not cloudy this evening have a look outside in the 10 or 20 minutes after sunset,” said Dr Cunnama.
Newcastle’s very own Astro Photographer, Angus Burns, captured these stunning images of the comet on Sunday evening,19 January.
The close up images were captured with a Canon 60Da camera through a Williams Optics REDCAT51 telescope on a Celestron Evolution tracking mount and consist of a number of images stacked to produce the detail below.
The wide field image was captured with a Canon EOSR camera on a static tripod (a single 30 second exposure at iso 1600 , which were all photographed from Signal Hill.
Speaking to Spotlight On Newcastle, Angus Burns said that his love for photography began at the tender age of just 10 years old.
“I became serious about photography when I was in my early twenties . I am now in my fifties so I guess that has allowed me to develop my approach and skillset well over the years,” said Burns.
The talented photographer enjoys a wide range of subject matter including weather, lightning ,wildlife, people macro and landscapes.
He is also the brand ambassador for Celestron South Africa and works formally in the conservation sector (WWF) and also teaches karate. Formally from Durban ,Burns has been living in Newcastle for over twenty years and hosts the largest astronomical event in South Africa at St Dominic’s Academy Newcastle and is also extensively published through many scientific journals.
Make sure not to miss out this evening, grab a chair and a binoculars and look towards the west side from about 20:00.
Send us your photos/videos if you are able to capture the comet.