Comet 17P/Holmes Outburst - now naked eye!

[jjjnettie]

It sure is a purty colour.

[jjjnettie]

Last one.
It's a single 2.5 sec frame, no processing other than a quick crop.
It may be grainy but maybe that gives it more flavour. More natural.:thumbsup:

[astroron]

It was awsome last night in everything from my 7x35 Bino's to the 16".
Took some pics but as usual will have to wait to get them developed.

[h0ughy]

nice shots JJJ and Dave

[h0ughy]

hey I just noticed Andrew has his image on SPaceweather, you should submit yours JJJ

[DJVege]

At approximately 10.50pm tonight....

I SAW HOLMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) It's quite high in the sky (compared to what i thought it would be). It's even above the trees I have in the north. It's next to that star, Mirfak, in Perseus. All I can see in my 15x70s is a fuzzy blob. Not quite naked eye because of the light pollution, not so great transparency, and scattered clouds....BUT I SAW IT!!!

Now i can sleep in peace......

[fringe_dweller]

nicely done Jeanette and Dave - look great!:thumbsup: like the chinese paper lantern look in that widefield JJ

glad you got a look at her DJ :thumbsup:

well i wonder when the great slueth Sherlock Holmes discovered this comet all those years ago, woulda he a thunk it would be so famous again? :whistle: :P or was it .... elementary?

[iceman]

My first images of the comet are here (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=25862).

It really is a strange looking object, visually. Through binos it looks great. I can't imagine having it directly overhead like those lucky NA guys.

[glenc]

I saw Comet Holmes from a Jetstar flight last Tuesday night (Wed am) at about 1:30 am Sydney time. It was easy to see with the naked eye. We were flying from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney and somewhere between Bali and Broome at the time..

[Liz]

Finally back to Townsville after a 'Holmeless' holiday in Victoria. Alas, comet has faded heaps, but still a bit ..... visible as 'blur' left of Mirfak, but Moon around and will be worse tonight.
Wow,well done from the plane glenc.

[Outbackmanyep]

I look at it this way Iceman, it'd take 10 "Holmes" comets to make up for P1 McNaught! hehe
So i'm happy to see this comet, they are worlds apart and quite unique but i'd take another McNaught-style one over this one any day! :D

:cheers:

[jjjnettie]

Tonight, the 21st of November.

[ballaratdragons]

FANTASTIC Jeanette!!!!!! :eyepop:

It's growing a tail :thumbsup:

[fringe_dweller]

incredible object! :jawdrop: nice!

[h0ughy]

awesome JJJ

[Outbackmanyep]

Nice one jjj,
Good to see you were able to not let the moonlight wash out the details.....
:cheers:

[fringe_dweller]

I like this one, large download

http://www.eanet.com/kodama/astro/2007/17p-holmes/novholmes.htm

have to mouse over below pic


how about this one!!

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071121.html

[iceman]

Beautiful images! Film too!

[jjjnettie]

The moon was very much evident in the individual frames.:(

[Tamtarn]

Some very interesting detail on the one taken on the 21st Jeanette. Getting some evidence of a tail. Thanks for posting :thumbsup:

[Garyh]

Nice one Jeanette! Havn`t been able to see it for a while now due to lots of high cloud on the northern horizon and now this cloud belt has moved in I don`t think I get to see it for another week?
cheers

[saberscorpx]

I was fortunate enough to catch the Mirfak Nebula earlier this week, along with a subtle dimming of the alpha star nestled within Holmes' coma.
The added aesthetics to Mel 20 continues to impress despite the comet's drop in magnitude and contention with moonlight.

Optimistic for another outburst,

SJS

[jase]

I haven't processed these images other calibrated and combine them, followed by a very quick and dirty DDP stretch. I have individual RGB data to add, but didn't bother. Also took some Ha, OIII and SII which I haven't worked on yet - might be interesting. These are simply the cropped luminance shots. Taken with a TOA150 and ST10XME. The images are nothing special (certainly don't give me a buzz like DSO images).

More image info (out of FITS);
SIMPLE = T
BITPIX = 16 /8 unsigned int, 16 & 32 int, -32 & -64 real
NAXIS = 2 /number of axes
NAXIS1 = 2184 /fastest changing axis
NAXIS2 = 1472 /next to fastest changing axis
BSCALE = 1.0000000000000000 /physical = BZERO + BSCALE*array_value
BZERO = 32768.000000000000 /physical = BZERO + BSCALE*array_value
OBJECT = 'c/17P ' / Target object name
NOTES = ' '
DATE-OBS = '2007-11-04T04:43:36' / [ISO 8601] UTC date/time of exposure start
EXPTIME = 1.00000000000E+001 / [sec] Duration of exposure
EXPOSURE = 1.00000000000E+001 / [sec] Duration of exposure
SET-TEMP = -10.000000000000000 /CCD temperature setpoint in C
CCD-TEMP = -9.7878172678115689 /CCD temperature at start of exposure in C
XPIXSZ = 6.8000000000000007 /Pixel Width in microns (after binning)
YPIXSZ = 6.8000000000000007 /Pixel Height in microns (after binning)
XBINNING = 1 / Binning level along the X-axis
YBINNING = 1 / Binning level along the Y-axis
XORGSUBF = 0 /Subframe X position in binned pixels
YORGSUBF = 0 /Subframe Y position in binned pixels
FILTER = 'Clear ' / Filter name
IMAGETYP = 'Light Frame' / Type of image
EGAIN = 1.3600000143051147 /Electronic gain in e-/ADU
FOCALLEN = 0.00000000000000000 /Focal length of telescope in mm
APTDIA = 0.00000000000000000 /Aperture diameter of telescope in mm
APTAREA = 0.00000000000000000 /Aperture area of telescope in mm^2
PIERSIDE = 'WEST '
HISTORY = File was processed by PinPoint 4.1.10 at 2007-11-04T04:44:00
DATE = '04/11/07' / [old format] UTC date of exposure start
TIME-OBS = '04:43:36' / [old format] UTC time of exposure start
UT = '04:43:36' / [old format] UTC time of exposure start
TIMESYS = 'UTC ' / Default time system
RADECSYS = 'FK5 ' / Equatorial coordinate system
AIRMASS = 1.27729262853E+000 / Airmass (multiple of zenithal airmass)
ST = '00 34 07.11' / Local apparent sidereal time of exp. start
LAT-OBS = 3.29036111111E+001 / [deg +N WGS84] Geodetic latitude
LONG-OBS = -1.05529166667E+002 / [deg +E WGS84] Geodetic longitude
ALT-OBS = 2.22500000000E+003 / [metres] Altitude above mean sea level
RA = '03 42 00.00' / [hms J2000] Target right ascension
OBJCTRA = '03 42 00.00' / [hms J2000] Target right ascension
DEC = '+50 35 16.8' / [dms +N J2000] Target declination
OBJCTDEC = '+50 35 16.8' / [dms +N J2000] Target declination
CLRBAND = 'R ' / [J-C std] Std. color band of image or C=Color
INPUTFMT = 'FITS ' / Format of file from which image was read
HISTORY Bias Subtraction (Bias 2, 2184 x 1472, Bin1 x 1, Temp -10C,
HISTORY Exp Time 0ms)
CALSTAT = 'BDF '
HISTORY Dark Subtraction (Dark 5, 2184 x 1472, Bin1 x 1, Temp -10C,
HISTORY Exp Time 30s)
HISTORY Flat Field (Flat Clear 1, Clear, 2184 x 1472, Bin1 x 1, Temp -10C,
HISTORY Exp Time 123ms)

Sorry if I've posted in the wrong area.

[jjjnettie]

Here's one from tonight, Wednesday 28th November.
A stack of 32 frames from the Gstar, tripod mounted, 16-100mm lens.

[glenc]

I looked at it through the family room window with 20x80 binoculars last night, when the moon was just starting to rise. Holmes is fainter than before and more elongated but it is still an amazing object.
Here is a recent image: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/11886291.html

[h0ughy]

Looking good JJJ!!

[Outbackmanyep]

Heres a pic from tonight of 17P/ Holmes from my backyard, just a tripod shot with the 400D @ 18mm, image slightly cropped, you can see M31 to the left hand edge too.

It has a noticeable elongated inner coma, surface brightness is dropping.
I was going to take a telescope pic but the grass is wet as, im waiting until tomorrow or sunday to mow the lawn so i can get my tripod out there to set up!

1 minute exposure @ f/ 3.5 , 18mm
Adjusted midtones and cropped only.
Cheers!:thumbsup:

[jjjnettie]

The best wide field I've seen of Holmes so far.
It's nice, it's interesting, it's different.

[glenc]

Great shots and an amazing object, the second bright comet in a year. :)
I estimate it was magnitude 3 and diameter 50' last night.

[h0ughy]

wow thats a great shot:thumbsup:

[Outbackmanyep]

Thanks guys!:)
Yes Glen i agree!, if you look at M31 its quite similar in brightness, 17P is holding its magnitude though, the light curve is on a downward trend so it'll be interesting photographically over the next month or two.

Cheers!

[Garyh]

Thats a lovely widefield shot Outbackmanyep! :thumbsup:
Really shows how big the halo has grown lately.
well done!

[Liz]

A beautiful shot, looks like it should be in a storybook, sort of surreal, but also a great capture of Holmes.

[Pascha]

Heja iceman!
Up to october, 27th, 17P was visible with naked eyes . The best time
was around midnight when the comet was near to zenite.
Since dec 1st binoculars became very helpful if not necessary.
Clear skies Pascha

[glenc]

It was easy to see Holmes with the naked eye last night.

[vash]

I've finally seen it too, took a few minutes to locate it and I'm sure I got it in the binoculars, it was a very large light area that didn't move as cloud rolled in front of it, so Thats all I'm basing my observation on, big round light patch that didn't move,
I'll have to try for a photo next

[pixelsaurus]

I saw and photographed Comet Holmes from Death Valley,California last weekend. There was no moon in the sky. My wife originally spotted it,I unknowingly was looking at M31 and telling her "where to look". From northern latitudes,M31 is quite bright and being unfamiliar with the night sky here,I got confused. Holmes has a globby type appearance at the moment and is near to the Milky Way. When I saw it, I realized it was the comet; kinda looked like Omega Centauri but far brighter. I rattled off about 12 30sec exposures but haven't got around to editing them yet.

[jjjnettie]

Yep, that's a great description!
To me it's just a bit dimmer than LMC and SMC.
The evolution of this comet has been extraordinary. From nothing to a bright fuzzy ball to a hazy elongated "patch of light".
I wanna be observing or imaging it if it has a flare up. Wouldn't that be a buzz?

[jjjnettie]

A quick pic from last night the 6th December.

[Outbackmanyep]

Great shot nettie! Good to see you had clear skies too! I managed to get about a dozen shots, couple widefield and the rest prime @ f/6.3, i'll post the pics later......
Might get another chance tonight looking at that infrared weather map!

Cheers!

[Rob_K]

Yep, agree with jjjnettie (great photo BTW!), that's an excellent description. I saw it Wednesday night low to the horizon in skyglow, and it showed in binoculars as a hazy light patch that looked like a cloud, but didn't move over time.

Cheers -

[vash]

yeah, with the weather at the moment I glad to have seen it twice now, though still no chance of imaging it yet, I'll keep looking at it with the binoculars when I can though, don't want to miss any opportunities.

[jjjnettie]

Like M31, the best view of this comet is through binoculars anyway, don't you think?

[vash]

well I have only seen it through binoculars, it's position when I saw it was nice as it was in a fairly nice star field, not sure how far it has moved since I last saw it, but I might not get to see it till late this month judging by the weather, though I'll keep trying for glimpses.

[Outbackmanyep]

Heres the pics as promised.
The wide angle was piggybacked on my Celestron Ultima 8", with the Canon @ 55mm f/5.6 for 7.5 mins, slightly adjusted midtones and contrast. ISO 400

The other pic is prime focus shot @ f/6.3 using same camera and scope.
Exposure was 5 mins (due to gaps in clouds), slightly adjusted again. ISO was 1600

I couldn't believe i'd ever see a comet that filled my 8" @ f/6.3, i think i may need a widefield scope! lol



:cheers:

[vash]

I just went out to look for it but it's a little to cloudy with lots of lightning in the distance, looked on BOM and there seems to be a very nasty storm coming up from the south west, going to hit here in a little over an hour I would guestamate,

[Liz]

Saw it tonight properly for first time :), after lot cloud/moonlight lately. Still very visible to naked eye, and was surprised at how large and bright it still looked. Very easy to spot, and looked bright than SMC/LMC.
Pic was a 30 sec shot with Minolta Dimage ISO 800.

[glenc]

I like the wide angle one Outbackman.

[glenc]

There is a nice image of Holmes at:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0712/holmespan_nanz_big.jpg

[lunar-tic]

It has been a great show with mostly favorable skies from November through December. It has dispersed so that I need a really clear night in the moderate light pollution here. Jan 1 was the last time it was seen by my eyes, Binoculars helped a lot: 7x50. Then the weather got cloudy, hazy, foggy and too cold!
Photo taken 11-23-2007 at 11:50PM EST Near Full Moon blocked by trees, still could easily see with naked eye. Consumer camera Kodak Z730, manual mode.

Ben Waranowitz

[Outbackmanyep]

Thats a nice shot lunar-tic! :)
It really amazed me how bright it was under a full moon throughout November. It only got about 8 degrees above my horizon but it would be something to see straight overhead almost!

Welcome to IIS!

[astroron]

:
:hi:Ben and:welcome:,that a pretty cool shot.
Thanks for posting:thumbsup:
Ron

[h0ughy]

:D:thumbsup:fantastic - wished we had it that high here - and cloud free, well done Ben

[alan meehan]

Hi ben
thats a bueatiful shot of holmes wish we could see it that clear from this marylands.aus