Comet 17P/Holmes
Comments(72)
Despite the bright full moon I managed to get an image of a wonderfully positioned Comet 17P/Homes yesterday morning. It had been 35 hours after I heard about the outburst causing 17/P Holmes to increase in brightness a million times and I figured it to be fading fast. I was pleasantly surprised to see the comet still so bright.
When I viewed the comet in the eyepiece of the 10 inch scope and saw the small core had a distinctive golden coma, I must confess I looked up checking for haze – there was none. My images were taken with an 80 mm scope. I isolated and enlarged the comet in the above image you can have a look by clicking the small image on the left.
The comet was, and may still be, a naked eye comet for a little while longer. If you haven’t seen it yet, go out and have a look. Hint: even a pair of binoculars will dramatically improve your view. Comet 17P/Homes can be found in the constellation Perseus (chart). To find Perseus look to the northeast right after sunset if you are a morning person, go out about an hour and a half before sunrise and face west, look straight up, then move your gaze about 1 to 2-fists width at arms length down towards the horizon. For me it was way easier to see in the morning.
UPDATE: The comet is apparently developing a tail at 218o on 07 Nov 07, I’ll get a new image when it clears and that could be a few days.
About the image:
Telescope: Orion ED 80 (unguided on an LX200)
Camera: SBIG ST 7 XME
Images: 16 (RGB filters) @ 9 seconds each
Captured and stacked with CCDSoft in FITS format
Color Combined with Photoshop
Dang it, Dang it, Dang it!!! We’ve had cloudy skies for the last 4 days…maybe it will clear tonight. (crossing fingers…)
I hope it does for you. It’s pouring here right now.
Thanks for the photo, Tom. My scope is down, so
it will be a while I’ll be looking skyward.
It’s hazy here from the fires in California, makes everything a little dull. I am going to try in the morning. I want to see the comet.
[...] 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 [...]
Nice images Steve. I have a three day view of the comet at SpaceSpot.com.
Good work Tom. I have just (29 Oct 2130 UT, location 0E 52N) viewed 17P/Holmes with an 8 inch Newtonian. It looks much as your photo and with a bright star-like centre. There is a brightening toward the centre of the disc, offset roughly toward the E. or trailing direction.
I saw and photoed Hyakutake (1996) and Hale-Bopp (1997). This is certainly the best comet since those two. Thanks again
PS forgot to say, its about 3rd mag and naked eye visible, a little E. (left)
of Alpha Per
Oh no kidding! I hope it can stay visible for the next couple of days. My next cloudless morning looks like perhaps Wednesday. Thanks Patrick!
Wow!
Nice photos Tom. It reminds me of something from an episode of original Star Trek. I went on spaceweather.com and looked at the skychart. I live about 8 miles away from a major U.S. city. Went outside up the street and there it was in Perseus! Had absolutely no trouble finding it in light polluted skies but can someone put a tail on it?
Hello again Tom. I’ve just (1830 UT) re-viewed 17P/Holmes with my 8 inch Newtonian. The starlike nucleus is still there, also the central brightening. I now see the brightening toward the S. and a little E., say position angle 150 deg. My previous observation of W. was a mistake made in haste and excitement I’m afraid. Anyway it’s clear in all the pictures.
The diameter of the outer halo is about 10 arc minutes I estimate. The halo edge is markedly sharper on the side away from the inner brightening. Referring to Stephen’s post above, I understand we are looking almost directly along the axis of the “tail”… so the nearly circular halo IS the tail!
To the naked eye, the comet is now a bit fainter than Alpha Per (Algenib, mag 1.8) but brighter than Gamma Per (mag 2.9).
With best regards, Patrick (Hertfordshire UK)
I’m going to try and get an image in the morning…IF there isn’t any clouds. tonight is a bust for imaging due to transient clouds.
EDIT: I got a couple of images before the fog rolled in, will see how things came out later on today.
YESSSSSSSSSSSS!I saw it in midnight 2/3nov,with a 2″ binoculars,in Bucharest,Romania.Eaven with naked eye i can see it’s difuse,not a star.
What are my chances if seeing it in Atlanta, Ga?
wow I live in L.A. (California)and was able to see this comet with a naked eye the first was just a bright light and the second time it looked like a silver dollar in the sky it was bright and it happen with in seconds I went in and brought out my telescope and was able to see it again but it was nothing like the first couple of times with my eyes. just amazing
Boris, you should be able to see it, depending on your lighting conditions. If you can see Perseus (it is easily visible from Atlanta) you can see the comet as long as it’s as bright as it is right now. For me, Perseus is better positioned in the morning, due to local geography.
Grab a free star chart from Skymaps.com, then locate Perseus and look for the star that isn’t on the chart. Let’s see to narrow it down a little, okay, it should be just to the east or northeast of the brightest star in the constellation (more east in the morning).
Hint: Use binoculars to see the fuzzy coma better, it looks like a gold star otherwise and you might overlook it.
Good luck!
I live in Sunriver, Oregon which is about the very middle of the state. Where in the sky would I look and at what time.?. Thanks
Hi Jeannie!! Follow my comment right above yours everything holds true for you. We are close in latitude so you will be able to see where it is. I find the early morning is best for me because it is very high in the sky. Look northwest and at about 10 o’clock in height. Good luck and let me know how you make out!
I have a few timelapses of the comet over the past few days, I am headed out tonight with a much bigger lens, hopefully i can get some more shots.
thomas
click my name to go to the video page
Hope to see it tonight (Monday) in Eastern PA (Allentown)
Was this comet ever in the east? I saw a very very large bright (star?) directly east a week or so ago and commented on it to my husband. I witnessed it in this general direction for 2 or 3 nights and forgot about it until I read of this story.
From what I understand, it should be visible for “weeks if not months”, according to TPTB, so there should be ample opportunity to view it. I personally can’t see it with the naked eye, although my husband can see a hazy spot. We’ve had great success finding it with the binoculars, but the telescope has proven to be a bit more tricky!
Tom, Thanks for describing how to find the comet.
IS Comet 17P/Holmes visible to a person in Massachusetts? Where should I look and when if it is.
Thank you
Tom,
Try http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Yourhorizon?lat=41.5000&ns=North&lon=71.500&ew=West&fov=45.000&azimuth=45.000&date=1&utc=2007-11-06 23:59:00&jd=2454411.49931&azideg=0? (N)&coords=on&moonp=on&deep=on&deepm=3.0&consto=on&constn=on&limag=5.5&starn=on&starnm=3.0&starb=on&starbm=3.5&showmb=-1.5&showmd=6.0&terrain=on&terrough=0.7&scenery=on&imgsize=512&scheme=0&elements=
I did that for Providence RI, not far from you. Look to North East sky, about 10 to 15 degrees above your horizon.
Bob and Tom K,
1st Bob, yep but that is in the evening and I can’t see it with my scope, due to local geography, so I like early morning because it’s very high in the sky. That is a good site though.
Now Tom K, You bet! In fact I’m to your north but not far, only half way between Rutland and Burlington VT. To find it either use Bob’s comment as a guide or look for mine about 8 comments above yours.
i haven’t read all the chat and maybe someone else thought of this but maybe the reason it has no tail and looks like a honeycome and exploding is because it is headed straight for us. but from what i read it has looked like that before. if i am right it doesn’t mean it will hit us but is coming close.
hi tom! i live in vicksburg, mississippi and something amazing happened in the sky today. i was wondering if it possibly could be comet holmes. around 3pm central time in a very blue clear sky, i noticed a very bright, yet constant light-what i thought at first to be a jet. but over the next couple of hours it did not change-other than the position-and then as darktime fell, it was gone. it definitely had the shape of a comet….or a light with a tail….what do you think? i’d appreciate any input and i’ll look again tomorrow and let you know. thanks!
It could be, but 17P/Holmes never gets closer than the orbit of Mars. Now having said that, the comet to watch for is 8P/Tuttle which “might” be a naked eye comet and should certainly will be a binocular comet. It gets rather close to us by the end of the year.
BTW: I am hearing that the tail has not had time to form yet. Who knows?
Hi Heather! That was not the comet, but I wonder what it was, very interesting. I was thinking Irridium flare but they are fast. Can you tell me the direction?
the light was very constant-very bright-i showed other people and they were amazed too. several people also said it “looked like” a comet because of the shape. it appeared to be moving westward, but i’m not real sure. i kept watching it until i could no longer see or find it anymore. i lost it right above the horizon as the sun set. whatever it was, it appeared vertical in the sky, not horizontal. i’m so sorry….i’m awful at explaining things. i wonder if our local meteorologist might know something about it? i may check with her. this has really aroused my curiosity!
Heather,
Hmmmm, If it was moving west it could not have been the ISS, besides that moves right along. Not an iridium flare, spectacular but fast. Then I thought, blimp? Shape seems wrong, so right now I’m thinking weather balloon or something similar. I’ve never seen one of those. This points up the need for me to carry along my camera more often, you just never know and I am very bad about it.
Well, I’m in Phoenix, AZ, and I just now heard about Holmes comet ?exploding?. Can someone tell me where I can look in the night sky to see it? Should I look north, south? High, low? I would really like to see this, and anyone that can help me, I would greatly appreciate it.
HOW CAN I SEE IT IN EASTERN PENNA
I was going to point you to a comment up the list a bit but here’s the gist, and by the way check the post, the paragraph above “About the image” there is a link to a chart there too. but anyway:
Grab a free star chart from http://www.Skymaps.com, then locate Perseus and look for the star that isn’t on the chart. Let’s see to narrow it down a little, okay, it should be just to the east or northeast of the brightest star in the constellation (more east in the morning).
In the evening it’s low on the horizon to the north east, in the morning it’s very high in the sky, about, oh gosh, 60 degrees or so and to the west-north-west.
Do check skymaps or go up a few comments to Bobs and try http://www.fourmilab.ch, it’s a good one too.
Hint: Use binoculars to see the fuzzy coma better, it looks like a gold star otherwise and you might overlook it.
When the tail is pointed away from us doesn’t that mean it is coming torwards us?
It could very well mean that it is heading at us, or, since this is an event and not the normal sublimation there is speculation the tail has not had a chance to form. If the comet is heading directly at us, it means nothing in this case because the comet doesn’t come closer than the orbit Mars before heading in the other direction. Here’s something else to think about, if a comet were to be heading right at us would we be here when it arrives, or would we be quite a bit further on in our travel around the Sun?
Our biggest known worry isn’t a comet, it is an asteroid named Apophis and this thing could be catastrophic, seriously! It’s getting some press, but since it is down the road nobody is doing much, well public wise, but we as a public better darned well push somebody somewhere to do something more especially with funding or else it’s going to be too late; we have to act years in advance and not at the last minute like the norm.
http://www.space.com/news/051103_asteroid_apophis.html
Thanks for answering I’m very interested in space and it’s belongings but I don’t know much. I would Know alot more if I had a telescope. It would be really hard to get me away from it.
Glad to hear it Steph! If you have a fast (ish) connection you could listen to these podcasts, they are excellent and you can learn a lot.
Solar system
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/
scroll down to the podcasts
and
Deeper space
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/Audio/
Hi Tom!!!!! guess what….it’s still there….i saw it again this evening around 5:15cst! still looks about the same and other people i showed it to said it looked like a comet to them. i saw it right at sunset and in the same place….it’s so beautiful! it’s very bright and definitely has some sort of tail….whatever it is….now what do you think….this is driving me crazy…or crazier rather…lol!
I am 9 years old, and I heard about it on the news. I am going to use it for my current event at school! Can I use your photo?
Hi Tom great picture. I saw the comet from Boston this evening!
I wonder… is it possible that rather than an exploding comet – Could it be that we are seeing the comet from a prospective close to what one would see from the sun? Let me explain. The comet was a faint image before October 26 (much like it was around the time that Mr Holmes saw it on November 6, 1892)Then as our angle of view changed to be closer to a direct view down the Length of the comet’s tail at the same time we saw a change in the angle of reflection of the sun from the comet. As a result it appeared to explode when what really happened was there was an explosion of light being reflected off the comet. There is a 15 degree difference in angle between the earth and the sun.
Just my humble thoughts…
Bailee You bet, and there is another one at
http://tomsastroblog.com/?p=1318
Good luck and you can also report the comet is just now developing a tail located at 219 degrees.
Heather, do you have, or have access to a pair of binoculars? If it appears fuzzy then it could be the comet!
KMal, All the experts are saying outburst, although nobody knows why. You idea is interesting.
AS OF RIGHT NOW I STILL SEE THE FUZZ BUT WITH WHAT I THINK I SEE A SLIGHT TAIL YET FOR THE PAST FEW HOURS IT KEEPS GETTING BRIGHTER THEN IT GETS DIM THEN BRIGHTER IN SOUTH TEXAS. I TEXTED MY BEST FRIEND IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO CONFIRM WHAT I SAW. I CAN SEE IT W/OUT BINOCULARS.
A FEW HOURS LATER ITS RIGHT OVER HEAD & ITS STILL THERE VERY INTERESTING EVEN W/THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF THE CITY I CAN STILL C IT AS OF 12AM WILL REPORT LATER.
Waiting on the Hubble images. . . .
It’s cloudy here, Rudy (or anybody) any sign of that tail?
hi
i live in beijing and haven’t had much chance to see anything related to the night sky due to beijing’s pollution but, last night i saw comet holmes. and i feel so happy to be able to have witnessed it because of its rare visit and show.
what an amazing time it was. some guys at a science university have a club and they had there 5″ refractor and some binocs out.
even with the naked eye it is an great view.
the moment i looked up at perseus. i saw it. i felt like..hmmmmm. somethings wrong there. haha
I have question I live on the Gulf Coast. There is something in the sky were the comet is said to be. It is very bright and changes colors.My husband thinks it is the comet.The object has a zigzag pattern of movement sometimes, it also zipps left and right, and goes up and down. Could what we are seeing be a satelite?
HEA TOM SAME W/MY BUDDY IN TEMECULA CALIFORNIA CLOUDY STILL CANT SEE IT. TANYA WHAT U MAY BE SEEING IS A STATIONARY SATELLITE THAT MOVES A LITTLE & THE REASON U MAY SEE IT CHANGE COLORS IS THE DUST PARTICLES IN ATMOSPHERE. I WENT TO RUN EARRANS AT 7PM IT WS BARELY VISIBLE BUT NOW AT 10PM ITS SEEMS MUCH BRIGHTER ALMOST OVERHEAD. IF THERE IS A TAIL FORMING ITS VERY SHORT IN SA TX.
Hey Tom! I am still able to see the “comet”! I went by the paper yesterday afternoon and some of the photographers were just amazed at what they were seeing. They are going to set up this afternoon around the same time and see if they can get some pics. It was a brilliant, magnificent sight! I will try to send some of the pics if I can. I’ll let you know later how it goes! Thanks for all of your help-Heather.
Cool!! Do send the pics, that’d be great!!
tanya, the comet will not appear to be moving it will look like a fuzzball. It is now very diffuse meaning it’s getting fainter, but still visible.
Rudy and all…
I will have a current image (from this morning) posted at about 6pm local i.e. in a couple of minutes.
Here it is: http://tomsastroblog.com/?p=1328
[...] seem to be a tail forming at last. The view in this image is the same as the ones in my posts of October 27th and October 31st, the ones at the top of the post at [...]
Thanks Tom appreciate the updates.. & like heather i went by the paper & thats how i saw it. I told my friends they didnt beleive me but when i show them yesterday the were surprised. As of 9pm cst in sa tx it did seem slightly larger but fainter but then the pesky clouds spoiled my view during my break at wrk so will try again tomorrow.
11pm c.s.t. w/partly cloudy skys other wise clear i have noticed it seems dimmer then days before yet as i keep observing these past 2hrs hav noticed that i see tiny specks of bright particles w/in the dust clouds w/binoculars esp the center & thur the faint tail which is small. are those specks of tiny bright lights from the comet or is it other stars behind the comet dust cloud? oh at times it does get little brighter. any one have any ideas is it really parts of the comet?
Absolutely tremendous view of it in So Cal tonight, and i’m not in what you’d call a “dark skies” area. Clearly visible with the naked eye directly overhead at midnight. Definite bright spot of the nucleus is visible thru moderately powered binoculars. This thing is enourmous with an aparent diameter easily 2/3 that of a full moon. Best thing since Hale-Bopp!
Nice pics, BTW.
12am cst 11/13/07 the newspaper in my town said that the comet is fading fast so whn i got off of work & took a look b 4 the clouds from the coast arrived i did manage to look & it seemed to be still there same as the night before. i didnt get a chance to observe it for too long before the clouds obscured the night sky for the rest of the night will try again tomorrow.
Hi Tom!!! Sorry I haven’t checked in lately…had a stomach bug from some of my kids at school…FUN!!!!!! I’m still able to see the comet and guess what…my camera is not working! I thought one of the photographers from the newspaper would have taken a picture by now. I’m still working on it and will let you know if I have any luck!!! Thanks for everything!
[...] coma of Comet Holmes has changed you can look at these previous images if you haven’t already: Oct 27 Post / Image [...]
last night 8-9pm comet still seemed faint then as of 5am it ws overhead & it seemed brighter then a few hours earlier. and the comet has moved north its almost next to the bright star thats close to it.
I posted an image from this morning at the front page or you can go to it from here
http://tomsastroblog.com/?p=1333
Hi Heather! Sorry to hear you’ve been under the weather.
The comet is much dimmer than it was.
The comet is visible to naked eye for some days now. It appears like a star surrounded by a fuzzy cloud of dust. Its a delight to watch for all night sky gazers
.
We have a new website with a little info on comet holmes. Check it out here:
http://www.comet17p.com
One site says the comet is still visible. I have not yet been able to identify it for certain. I have been looking for it on and off around the constellation Perseus but have not had much luck. Now, with the moon on the waning phase, chances of seeing it may be better if the comet is still visible. Can somebody describe where abouts it is now. If is is still in Perseus, then can you please be more specific? Thanks.
Hello everyone. 17P/Holmes is still (29 Nov) naked eye visible to me, now west (right) of Alpha Persei Algenib.
I see it as a largish blur about 4th mag.
In an 8 inch f6 Newtonian it fills about half the field of a 25mm Plossl, thus about 0.6 degrees apparent size.
I see no bright core now. However the coma still has a sharp edge.
Best wishes, Patrick, Herts Uk
Thanks Patrick, I’ve not see the sky in a long time and looks like it will be over a week before I can. Darned old clouds and snow and rain and sleet anyway.
Tom
comet holmes is not a comet,it is the binary of our sun.
tonight we noticed the comet had quite a tail and with binoculars seemed to see bright flashes within the tail…very strange. Also we are now seeing a new fuzzy area to the east of where comet holmes was, is this another comet?
aj,
There are a few things you could be seeing, but just so you know there is another comet beginning to brighten, this one is 8Ptuttle and currently it can be found at the “point’ of the constellation Cepheus. It should continue to brighten for another couple of weeks. I tried about a month ago to get an image of it with little success. I think I could get it now, but the darned clouds won’t leave.
I know this is an older post. I was wondering where this comet is now and where to look for it. Thanks!
Ethan, it IS still around. I will add to this later today to let you know the where’s and what’s, I’m not near my info at the moment.
Ok, I’m back the best thing is to go to Seiichi Yoshida’s site:
http://www.aerith.net/comet/weekly/current.html
Looking at it, Seiichi is saying it’s a mag 18.5 — quite dim indeed.