This is the comet from my images last night, with my own eyes i could see a "false" nucleus, like a bright star in the center, with the bell shaped central condensation and outer coma, but looking at my images i notice a dark ring inside the outer coma and some images look like it has a split nucleus! The full resolution off the camera image shows the split better, or it could be an artifact!
Taken prime focus through my Celestron 8" SCT @ f/10
This image has not been processed at all......90 sec @ ISO 200
Hi
heres a view from early this morning, from my front yard at Wallsend. Can clearly see it between tree trunk and powerpole
6x2 sec 50mm f1.8 untracked but stacked and aligned on comet with IRIS
What an incredible object. What an incredible year. Starts with Mcnaught bursting to daylight visibility, and even co inciding with the IIS Lostock astrocamp putting on a super display. Quiet times from then till now an obscure small comet super outbursts to over a millionfold in brightness. Wow its all happening.
Scott
... What rock have I been under for the last few days ?
Here I am in prime position in the NT and had not been taking much notice.
I will be out there tonight for a first look !
Just before the full moon rises on Tuesday the 30th at 10:30pm, will be the first dark sky opportunity.
Lets hope it holds it brightness !
The full resolution off the camera image shows the split better, or it could be an artifact!
It's not an artifact. I was playing with images today, finally got a stack of 53 happening, and the nucleus is a definate arrow head, pointing down.
I'll post my new improved image in Solar System thread.
Thru 20x80s Holmes looks more like a supernova than a comet. Currently about 4 deg ENE of Mirphak, the circular and cream-colored 2.5 mag oddity easily punches through our gibbous moon's interference. 8x40s nicely frame 17P and Mel 20 in the same field.
The outer halo and naked eye fuzziness, however, would be greatly enhanced in a moonless sky.
A well deserved medal for our Hero.
SJS
Last edited by saberscorpx; 29-10-2007 at 05:11 AM.
dont take this to heart, its just an opinion piece, and as they say we all have them (opinions)
strangely? i could be imagining this!, but i feel an unspoken pressure to provide photographic evidence of my obs? its seems de rigeur? but after having taken a personal oath/resolution and undertaking in swearing off and personally participating in the time consuming digital astrophotography game, or least a long sabbatical till the next solar max (I havent recharged my 350d batteries since P1! in feb) as i currently find it, from a purely *personal* involvement level to be a fun spoiler these days. Plus I have much more important bigger GAS issues right now tho LOL.
And I am undergoing a return to my 'roots' AA wise, and just do it for the eyeballin existentialist and satori-like 'crac' and removing myself from the technology and GAS treadmill drudgery that I now find astrophotography to be, as the new 'be all and end all' of AA.
I find it sad the 'romance' of the writtem obs to be a dying art form, an art form that was developed over many centuries! the likes of which J . Bortle and D. Seargent so eloquently do, as I equally enjoy reading a quality descriptive obs as seeing a great image of something momentous. and my personal written records come first and foremost to me, and images can be rather impersonal and cold IMO sometimes.
Dont get me wrong, I would be deeply dissappointed and distressed if there wasnt the current crop of the plethora of awesome imagers to admire/inspire wonder and reveal previously unseen things and expanding our universal collective knowledge, not to mention cherrypick from their pics for my obs folder, as visual reminders of my obs!
also not to mention
when I/we started this hobby astrophotograhers were quite rare, and that was part of the attraction and motivation i think.
so there got that off my chest, but due to this new modern digital era horrible and suffocating expectation that one must have top shelf photographic evidence of everything they see and do, I felt I had explain myself!
this thread may not be the place to open up this way, in a fast food and time poor world, its tooo many words!
Going to get up at 1:40 am (daylight saving time) tommorow despite having work tomorrow morning to see what surprises this comet has in store, will set up the 10 inch again.
Some sleepless mornings await me while Holmes keep putting on this spectacle
Scott
dont take this to heart, its just an opinion piece, and as they say we all have them (opinions)
strangely? i could be imagining this!, but i feel an unspoken pressure to provide photographic evidence of my obs? its seems de rigeur? but after having taken a personal oath/resolution and undertaking in swearing off and personally participating in the time consuming digital astrophotography game, or least a long sabbatical till the next solar max (I havent recharged my 350d batteries since P1! in feb) as i currently find it, from a purely *personal* involvement level to be a fun spoiler these days. Plus I have much more important bigger GAS issues right now tho LOL.
And I am undergoing a return to my 'roots' AA wise, and just do it for the eyeballin existentialist and satori-like 'crac' and removing myself from the technology and GAS treadmill drudgery that I now find astrophotography to be, as the new 'be all and end all' of AA.
I find it sad the 'romance' of the writtem obs to be a dying art form, an art form that was developed over many centuries! the likes of which J . Bortle and D. Seargent so eloquently do, as I equally enjoy reading a quality descriptive obs as seeing a great image of something momentous. and my personal written records come first and foremost to me, and images can be rather impersonal and cold IMO sometimes.
Dont get me wrong, I would be deeply dissappointed and distressed if there wasnt the current crop of the plethora of awesome imagers to admire/inspire wonder and reveal previously unseen things and expanding our universal collective knowledge, not to mention cherrypick from their pics for my obs folder, as visual reminders of my obs!
also not to mention
when I/we started this hobby astrophotograhers were quite rare, and that was part of the attraction and motivation i think.
so there got that off my chest, but due to this new modern digital era horrible and suffocating expectation that one must have top shelf photographic evidence of everything they see and do, I felt I had explain myself!
this thread may not be the place to open up this way, in a fast food and time poor world, its tooo many words!
Sorry Kearn, didn't get past the first sentence - it's tooo many words!
But I think the apparent lack of good observational reporting doesn't mean it's not going on. Probably an illusion created by the nature of these forums, bit like show-&-tell, a picture's worth a thousand words, etc, lol. There's a couple of guys (DougAdams & §AB) who are keeping it alive in the "obs report" sub-section, and they probably could do with a bit of a hand.
Love the pictures because they usually show more detail than you can visually observe, but love the reports too because they convey a real sense of your experience at the eyepiece, in a way that images never can. They can also convey a sense of excitement, discovery & achievement (and disappointment on occasions ).
Anyway, love the Holmes pics folks - thanks to all from one who will probably not get to see it (damn latitude!).
Slow moving High Cloud has stopped any observing tonight here in Gove.
Aw .... well maybe tomorrow night Update: I went and tried again with the 16 x 60 Bino's, it was a snap
This is one bright comet, I could even see it through the veil of high cloud !
Hi Rob,
sorry, I was specifically referring to the fate of formalised/standardised and informal comet obs/descriptions, probably an even more endangered beastie than some other forms?, altho closely related in terminology and origins I guess - but i salute them nonetheless! I have Hartungs book, great example of the 'old school' descriptive methods
anyway its all good mate I still really enjoy looking at great astro pics, but just not as big a fan of taking them and processing them myself thesedays LOL altho i did used to love doing it, and will again someday most probably
Scott where do you observe it from? What's the best time to see it? I'm thinking of making a trip North for it.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...6&d=1193534200 from his front yard Mike! probably could do it from our swamp LOL, you need to get some elevation to clear most of suburbia, is there anywhere with a nice hill looking north near you?
I always thought it was too low for us down here but after looking at this thread its seems defiantly worth the effort of getting up early..been too cloudy last night, I shall give it a go tonight? I have a great northerly view!
Like what Mike mentions what time in the morning would be best to view it?
cheers Gary
... What rock have I been under for the last few days ?
).
maybe tomorrow night
so no
tonight
I still really enjoy looking at great astro pics, but just not as big a fan of taking them and processing them myself thesedays LOL altho i did used to love doing it, and will again someday most probably
