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Skywatchers throughout the Northern Hemisphere report the newly visible Comet Holmes is a remarkable sight even under city lights. The comet, described in glowing terms by many observers, should continue to be visible to the naked eye for at least the next few weeks.
Only a couple comets each decade are this easy to see.
Holmes is actually an old comet. First seen in November 1892 by British observer Edwin Holmes, it has since made 16 circuits around the Sun and should have fizzled out a long time ago. It made its closest approach to the Sun last May, yet never came closer to it than 191 million miles (307 million kilometers). The comet is actually moving away from the sun now, almost midway between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Not exactly a recipe for an outbust, since solar heating is typically what triggers comets to brighten.
But sometime late last Tuesday, Oct. 23, this comet underwent an explosive outburst and within just 24-hours increased its brightness almost a million-fold. Since then, Holmes has been putting on a unique display, looking very different than any other comet of our generation: It has yet to sprout a noticeable tail, while its head—called the coma—appears like a round, yellowish fuzz ball in the constellation Perseus, and is visible for most of the night.
I think I will set up my telescope tonite. At 8000 feet in the Rockies, and clear skies, it should be fun, if I can take the cold. This starmap will help you locate the comet.
“At 8000 feet in the Rockies, and clear skies, it should be fun, if I can take the cold”.
Wear a warm hat.
#1 That and a bottle of Makers Mark will do the trick.
Well, good luck in seeing much of anything now, since this event happened about a month ago. Much of the brightness has dissipated, though with a telescope or binoculars you can still make out the fuzzy patch. Not as dramatic as when it happened last month, though.
I saw the comet out my window early one morning last week. Geeze it was the brightest thing in the sky, equivalent to a full moon. I want to get some more pictures but every night since has been cloudy.
I would also like to get my eight yr old kid out there to watch it for a while. She has dreams of studying astronomy. The last two years we have watched a few meteor showers together.
When will it pass by Earth again? What part of the Earth was the comet visible from?
This past Halloween, a friend of mine and I got dressed up in our trek ‘uniforms,’ his “shuttlecraft” Prius parked on his front lawn, with a telescope and a couple of pairs of binoculars, and a green laser to point out the comet.
It was a wonderful experience for me to show people, young and old, a small wonder of the astronomical world. Kids, as well as adults were awed to see this snowball like thing in the sky. It was the most rewarding Halloween I have ever had.
The Prius is painted to look like a shuttlecraft. The guy is such a Trek nut, it’s truly hilarious.
#5, Comet Holmes has a period of roughly 7 years. It was visible anywhere on Earth north of latitude 30S (on the horizon at 40S) near Alpha Persei. But good luck seeing it again next trip – it’s normally too faint to be seen without a medium to large telescope.
More info here:
http://cagematch.dvorak.org/index.php/topic,2736.0.html
To get a really good view now, you’ll need large binoculars (30 x 130mm) or a 20″ or larger scope at f/5 or f/6. It can still be identified with small binocs (10 x 50mm) or a 5″ scope, but it’s so extended there is little if any detail. Low powers work best.
Although its magnitude has not decreased much, it’s apparent brightness has greatly diminished because the light is now spread out over a much larger area in the sky. Here’s an excellent short read on Holmes and its brightness has apparently diminished over the last weeks.
http://astroprofspage.com/archives/1311