My first images of Comet 17P Holmes @ 5° alt

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi all

My view to the North is blocked by trees, so I hadn't seen Comet Holmes until Tuesday night, when we went up to Mangrove Mountain pony club for some dark sky time.

The view to the North there was pretty good, but there were still trees which blocked about 4.5° up off the horizon. We got our first visual look at the comet through binos, and wow it was large, but diffuse at the same time.

So here's Comet Holmes, at 12:40am 14th November at 5° altitude. Unfortunately trees still blocked most of the view, because the refractor is shorter off the ground than my height - so even though I could see it clearly while standing, the refractor could not.

Anyway, the trees give it a bit of atmosphere.. I would've liked the comet to have cleared the trees but i'll take what I can.

Images taken with the ED80 & 350D, guided with the DMK. The first 1 is a stack of 3 x 60s subs. The second shot is a single 90s exposure just before it went behind the club-house at the Pony Club. All @ ISO800.

I'm not sure if i'll get the chance to image this again, but I'll certainly try and get out again to take some widefield shots.

[Dennis]

Nice work Mike. I never imagined that anything could be captured at 5 degrees altitude! Full marks for persistence!

Cheers

Dennis

[Garyh]

Great going Mike! I am glad you managed to view and image the comet at last while the skies have been good!

[h0ughy (David)]

nice images Mike, well done

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Nice work Mike. Ah the feeling of success.

You might get the chance again. It will be staying in Perseus for a while and will eventually get another 5 deg or so higher. Whether it stays this bright or not is another story.

[iceman (Mike)]

Another 5deg higher? I had a look this morning and it appeared to reach its highest altitude later this month, at a whopping 6° altitude.

Where did your info come from?

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

I ran a sidereal day progression in Starry Night over the next couple of months. Eventually it will get to around 25 deg above the northern horizon here. It is currently around 13-15 deg at meridian cross. In March it reaches it's max at 26 deg, but that is in daylight. The hightest that you might be able to get is passing Algol on the 23rd of January at around 8:00 PM EDST. That is 22 deg for us

[h0ughy (David)]

mmm be far too late by then?

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Basically it will slowly get higher and higher until daylight washes it out. As to its intensity, that is anyones guess.

[Outbackmanyep]

Great shot Mike!
Mission Accomplished??? hehe

Cheers!

[sheeny (Al)]

Wow! great work Mike!

It looks quite big. I haven't seen it yet... though I'm in Vancouver and should have a good view from the northern hemisphere, there just hasn't been a break in the cloud. Typical of this time of year I am told...

I am enjoying everyone's pictures though!

Al.

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks guys. I hope it stays bright for a while longer so I can get out and take a few more images.

I might take the widefield setup out on the weekend and take some images across Tuggerah Lake, should be a good north horizon there from Long Jetty.

[fringe_dweller]

the horizon features seem to accentuate P17's 'bubbleness' what a fruity comet! glad you got a viewing and some nice shots Mike
cheers

[tornado33]

Good work! How dark was the place you took the pics from? Plenty of contrast, comet stands out well.
Scott

[WadeH (Wade)]

Finally!! Persistence pays. Well done Mike, now you can relax a little. That is until the next big challenge.

I like the first pic the best. Nice with the cloud discecting it.

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks guys.
I tried again last night, sky was clear ... except where I was. I chose the wrong location. Too low, haze and low cloud and fighting locals (not to mention me fighting to align an EQ3).

I'll stick with what I know if I go out tonight.