Comet C/2025 K1 Atlas

Location:  From a driveway near Fredericton, NB, Canada

Date Time:  Aug 16, 2025 2000-0100hrs

Weather: Mostly hazy with passing see-through clouds, this greatly affected images and visual observing, especially deep sky objects and the comet.  At times breezy, and many mosquitos, moths and other bugs, 20C/ humidity 60%. A little dew.  We have been experiencing a drought. 

Attendance:  Edward M and myself.

Equipment:  Meade 8" LX 200 with focal reducer and 32mm eyepiece for visual observing.  Canadian Telescopes 80 ED/APO with Canon Rebel T3 attached for imaging.  Images processed on Photo Shop. 

Objective:  To do some visual observing around the Summer Triangle and to attempt to image a newly discovered comet, C/2025 K1 Atlas, which was reported to be near one of the main asterism stars in Ophiuchus.

Report:

• Many of the deep sky objects & comet that I tried to locate and view/image were greatly affected by the see-through haze & clouds.  Sometimes M31 was visible with unaided eye, but sometimes it wasn't.  Same goes for Albireo and many of the comet images. One image it's there, in another it isn't. Camera/telescope focus issues were also a factor. When the reddish orange, waning crescent Moon began to rise through the trees after midnight, it was half covered in clouds.
• As we were observing, we seen many meteors. Over a dozen between us.  Faint, very fast moving streaking pin pricks of light.  I observed two at the same time almost moving at right angles to each other under Cassiopeia (which was in the NE sky), while trying to locate M31 with unaided eye.  No Perseids were seen.  No smoke trails seen.  All were very fast, faint, in all parts of the sky moving in seemingly different directions,
• We observed a train of satellites moving in the south-east direction.
• Observed visually, with big telescope, Albireo(Double Star), M13(Hercules Cluster), M31(Andromeda Galaxy) and made an unsuccessful attempt to view M57(The Ring Nebula).  M31 & M13 were greatly affected by hazy conditions, but were visible.  The double star was not affected.

The Hercules Cluster (M13)

The Ring Nebula (M57) halfway between brighter Sulafat & fainter Sheliak.

• About halfway through the observing session, I made my first attempt at imaging the recently discovered comet, C/2025 K1 Atlas, which was nicely placed high up in the south-western sky.  Located very conveniently for imaging, unlike most of the other targets, which were nearly straight over-head.  This comet was reported to be near a brightish star in Ophiuchus, 11.9 magnitude, which is very close to the limit of my capabilities to image.  This means it's very faint, too faint to see in my 8" telescope, even under perfect seeing conditions.

Comet is to the right of the bright star, near center of image.

• Over the course of the evening of imaging and observing, many targets were almost directly over-head, I had issues keeping the camera focused. The incline of the telescope caused this. I used a number of stars including Dubhe in Ursa Major as a bright star to focus on.

Dubhe.  Glow surrounding this star in the image indicates the haziness of the sky conditions.