Comet Holmes and Perseus
Published on Oct 28, 2007 at 12:16 am.
9 Comments.
Filed under astrophotography, comets.
I took this photo a few hours ago.
It shows the comet in the constellation Perseus over the roof of my house. You can compare the photo with the finder chart that I created for my October 25 posting. Â The photo was taken with a 6 second exposure using a Pentax K110 digital SLR, using just a 35mm lens and effective ISO 1600. The long exposure and high ISO accounts for the bright sky. But, you can easily see the comet as a fuzzy star, even with the naked eye, now. In binoculars, it is a big fuzzy patch. In the telescope it appears much more fuzzy than it did the last few nights. The core is far less distinct, too, suggesting that the eruptive event, whatever it was, is not something that will continue. The comet may fade quickly as it did in 1892 when it was first discovered. Certainly this has been an interesting year, with two naked eye comets to see!
-Astroprof
Astrolink [International Edition] » Blog Archive » Astrosphere for October 28th, 2007 on October 28, 2007 at 12:23 pm: 1
[…] Lots of people are talking about Comet 17P/Holmes. Astroprof captured an image of the comet above his house. And here's an image captured by Steve Tuttle. And here's a cool series showing its evolution from Slacker Astronomy. And another nice one from Tom's Astronomy Blog. And finally, here's a sketch made by Bill Greer. […]
Alan on October 28, 2007 at 6:48 pm: 2
Any chance they will swing the HST around and take a look at it?
Burzycki.org - Tech and Interesting Facts on October 28, 2007 at 9:08 pm: 3
[…] Astrosphere for October 28th, 2007 October 28th, 2007 | Category: Contributors, Astronomy I hope you’re all enjoying this lazy Sunday. Sorry for the lack of updates, things have been busy for me. Of course, you’ll be wanting an image of Comet Holmes. This one was captured by Phil22 from the forum, but there are lots more there, so check them all out. Lots of people are talking about Comet 17P/Holmes. Astroprof captured an image of the comet above his house. And here’s an image captured by Steve Tuttle. And here’s a cool series showing its evolution from Slacker Astronomy. And another nice one from Tom’s Astronomy Blog. And finally, here’s a sketch made by Bill Greer. And everyone else is out at the X-Prize Cup. Jeff Foust uploaded a bunch of images. And here’s a video of Armadillo Aerospace’s unsuccessful attempt to win the first lunar prize. And here’s some coverage from Alan Boyle’s Cosmic Log. Finally, here’s Wired Science’s excellent coverage. Orbital Outfitters showed off their new prototype commercial pilot spacesuit. […]
Astroprof on October 29, 2007 at 1:25 pm: 4
The Hubble is booked solid for months to come. If someone has studies of comets pre-approved as target of opportunity, though, then they can bump someone who is otherwise scheduled. They need to be careful about who they bump, though, as that can really mess up someone’s research (and delay granting of a degree if they happen to be a graduate student).
A Ler…-- Rastos de Luz on October 29, 2007 at 4:10 pm: 5
[…] Comet Holmes and Perseus no Astroprof’s Page […]
Astroprof’s Page » Comet Holmes is suddenly news (after 2 weeks) on November 6, 2007 at 12:29 am: 6
[…] Wow. Back on October 24, almost two weeks ago, I heard about the sudden outburst of Comet 17P/Holmes. I wrote about it hours after observing it. There was quite a bit of news about the comet around the internet. Just over a week ago, I posted a photograph of the constellation Perseus, with the comet marked. This has turned out to be one of the brightest comets in a long time, second only to Comet McNaught early in the year. Comet Holmes was clearly visible to the naked eye. Now, as it expands, it is getting harder to see, as I explained recently. And, in all those nearly two weeks, the comet has been virtually ignored by the news media. I saw a brief mention in USA Today, but that was all until Sunday when an amateur astronomer associated with a planetarium in the area wrote about it in the monthly column for the local paper. Then, I see this today. Yeah, they are sure on top of things. […]
Jimmy Waters on November 10, 2007 at 11:24 pm: 7
I have always been drawn to natural
phenoms like this. Does the comet remain in Perseus through the night at this time ? I believe I see it ( Nov. 10th 2007 @ 11 pm ). Looks like a small, fuzzy , smokey area just below what I think is Algenib or
Mirfak. Sorry if it isn’t. I presume it is as it is the only thing there that looks odd to me. Presently. I don’t even own a pair of binoculars ! HA! I still enjoy it though. Hell I just heard on the news tonight! On most events, if I had the equipment, It would have been too late.
Astroprof on November 10, 2007 at 11:32 pm: 8
Yes, that is it! And, it remains in Perseus for some time before moving on. It moves slowly enough that wherever you see it, it will be near that spot for weeks to come.
Rick on November 13, 2007 at 12:08 am: 9
I just saw it with my binoculars and it’s spectacular! I was afraid I was going to miss it since until tonight it’s been cloudy here since I first read about it. Thanks so much for your location chart which made it so easy to find.