Well, Comet 17/P Holmes did not disappoint! It is incredibly bright, at least magnitude 3 if not a hair brighter. I was able to get several images of it. The shots below have terrible contrast, but click them for embiggened ones on Flickr which look tons better.
Here is a wide-angle, with Cassiopeia at the top:
Here is a zoom of the comet. The bright star is Mirfak, in Perseus:
I also caught it with an airplane flying by!
It’s maybe not as bright as Mirfak, but it’s close. It’s redder, and through binoculars is definitely not star-like. My back is killing me, or else I’d have the ’scope on this in a hot second. I imagine it’s petty cool under magnification!
If you have pictures, post ‘em on BAUT!
October 24th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
[...] shots of Comet 17/P Holmes which is currently in outburst. It’s easily 3rd mag, if not brighter. I posted the images on my blog. Here is one of it with Cassiopeia. The contrast could be better, but it’s there! Unfortunately, [...]
October 24th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Can this be seen from the Southern Hemisphere? I’m in NZ.
October 24th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
You should post that airplane picture to Fark and see what kind of field day they’d have with it. Do you remember the now-epic Streetlight thread? I still burst into uncontrolled laughter and tears when I read it.
Anyway, is there any idea on how long this comet will be visible?
October 24th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Well, it’s total cloud cover here in southern New York, so tonight’s a bust. I’ll reiterate Dan’s question: any idea on how long it will be visible?
October 24th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
I just saw this in my 8″ dob. Very very cool. The core is really bright with a really nice halo. I’m sure the CCD guys will have this thing all over the web in a few hours.
October 24th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Yet another thing that sucks about the San Diego wildfires! Perfectly clear sky, covered by smoke.
October 24th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
We’re overcast here, so the comet is out, but I did manage to catch the only ISS flyover this week. Barely. It would have been better without the clouds, because from Calgary, it would have passed within 2 arc-seconds of Jupiter!
Missed the Jupiter flyby, but at least there was enough of a break in the cloud cover that I did get to see it.
October 24th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
I was too lazy to drag the 10-inch out, but I spent a while examining it with binocs. It looked more planet-like than comet-like to me … clearly round like a planet, and without as much fuzziness as I’ve seen with other comets. Definitely not star-like in any case. I couldn’t make out any kind of a tail yet, but from an urban area with a nearly full moon a few degrees away, that’s not surprising. Tomorrow’s predicted to be clear here, so mebbe I’ll pull the scope out then……
October 24th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
This is amazing! I stepped outside, having heard about it just a few hours ago, and lo and behold, Perseus had an extra 2nd-magnitude star! You can’t miss it, even with the Moon and local lights, if you are at all familiar with the constellations.
It’s a treat in the telescope, too. My 4″ scope shows a nice, bright, very slightly asymmetric halo around a nearly stellar nucleus. Not as dramatic as Hale-Bopp at its peak, but it’s still very bright and interesting to look at.
October 24th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Oops. Brain thinking one thing, hands typing another. Correcting myself, http://www.heavens-above.com/ had ISS passing within 2 DEGREES from Jupiter, as viewed from Calgary. Big difference!
October 24th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Just caught it myself, and saw a meteor too. Pretty nifty!
October 24th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Yeah, it does look planet-like. It’s weird. I hope we can get Spitzer and other ’scopes on it.
I have no clue how long this will last.I’m sure it’ll be all over the astrosphere tomorrow. I bet some comet experts will be piping up too. It’s amazingly bright.
The comet is at a declination of about 50 degrees give or take, so it’ll only be visible to people north of latitude -40 — though in reality more like -20. It was pretty low when I viewed it (as you can tell from the images) so it can be seen while still near the horizon. The nearly full Moon is making it tough, though: I could only take relatively short exposures, so the contrast on my images is low.
October 24th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Carl,
Mirfak is listed as 17 degrees declination, so you should be able to see this well into the southern hemisphere (theoretically as far south as 73 degrees).
October 24th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
.. and my source is incorrect. after checking other sources, the majority of entries agree with the 50 degree declination. (49 and some change). I’ve alerted the first source that their data is erroneous.
October 24th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
I drug my 10in dob out for a quick peek.
Wow It shows a very small bright nucleus.
a small offset coma and a large ball around that.
I can`t wait to see more pictures.
P.S. I am in Santa Rosa Ca near the BA`s old haunt.
October 24th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Oh my it’s getting cold here… gotta work in 6hours so I didn’t the scope out. Very easy to find, toke some picture (@400mm) not much to see though (planet-like, no tail)… Thank you BA for the heads up!
October 24th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Wow, is right. I taught tonight, and we set up telescopes to observe the comet after class. Not having seen it earlier, I was wondering if it would really be so easy to see, given all the light pollution on campus and the near full moon. But, it was bright . At first, I didn’t believe what I was seeing when I went out to look. In binoculars, it looked pretty star-like, but it was clearly not a star in a telescope. It looked almost like a planetary nebula (at first glance). Really cool!
October 24th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
If you can’t see the tail, that means it’s coming right for us!
Head for the hills people!
October 25th, 2007 at 12:06 am
Sadly, I don’t think I’m going to be seeing much of anything in the sky the next few nights with all the smoke in the air. (Orange County, in my case.) Funnily, about 1.5 hours ago I was going through my pictures from earlier this evening (there’s a visible glow in the mountains), and saw this funny trail running across the sky with evenly spaced dots. I figured out pretty quickly that it was an airplane, but I just find it interesting to see the same thing on here less than 2 hours later.
October 25th, 2007 at 12:18 am
From downtown San Jose this baby was really bright. And lovely. Though, I have to say that it was the first thing I focused on and I thought something was wrong with my scope until I looked at an ~actual~ star for comparison. Dragging my 8in to the park up the way was fun, and the neighbors really liked it. I hope it stays bright like this for awhile!
October 25th, 2007 at 12:38 am
Had a fun time tonight viewing things. My mom and I went up on a hilltop with a good southwest view over the San Francisco bay, where we could watch the shuttle go by and then the space station a minute later. First time either of us had ever seen either thing. Then we turned around and looked northeast and found the comet, which was more symbolically fun because it just looked like a star through the jiggly binoculars. I forgot to watch the shuttle disappear (I think into the earth’s shadow) but did watch the station disappear. I expected it to just wink out, but instead it got quickly dimmer and dimmer and then flickery for a few seconds before eventually flickering less and less and finally disappearing. Does anyone know why that would be? At the end it was like there was a blinking light; would that just be a more reflective surface as it spins? Thanks, Phil, for pointing out Heavens Above and for calling attention to the comet on your home page! Sorry to all the people around the world who couldn’t see the comet and probably would have appreciated its details better than I could; maybe next time it’ll be the other way around and it’ll be me with the overcast skies. Actually it was cloudy for a while this evening so it was a close call.
October 25th, 2007 at 12:45 am
It will have to get a lot brighter than 3rd magnitude to be seen through the clouds which have been here since Monday evening and are predicted to stick around
(though we certainly need the rain).
October 25th, 2007 at 12:46 am
See link for my quick&dirty shot (digital camera held up to eyepiece). It actually isn’t too bad, considering.
http://pages.suddenlink.net/keithphotos/PA256725crop.JPG
October 25th, 2007 at 12:57 am
Heh, I don’t know my way around Perseus that well, I must have skipped over the comet five times before realizing what it was. I guess I was looking for something really blobby, but it looks almost like a star in my little binoculars. It’s really bright and easily visible with the naked eye, even with the moon and city lights. It’s sitting almost at zenith now, here in New York.
October 25th, 2007 at 2:16 am
Hi,
Saw the comet from south-central Los Angeles. The Moon was straw-coloured throught, with cirrus clouds,LAPD searchlights, and some of the worst-light pollution on Earth.For
our host and other astro-nuts, the only naked-eye objects visible ,
other than the moon, were the comet(near Mirfak),Mirfak,Algol,Capella,and Beta Aurigae.
October 25th, 2007 at 2:29 am
I just reread Footfall. I’m worried.
October 25th, 2007 at 2:29 am
Yikes! Very visible even and with the bright moon. Very cool! I hope we can see a tail later as it changes position.
October 25th, 2007 at 3:52 am
Just say Yay! from Spain. What an unexpected view, even in the city lights and with that huge Moon…
October 25th, 2007 at 3:58 am
Moties inbound!
Perfectly cromulent images BA!
October 25th, 2007 at 4:41 am
It was a snack for the eyes. I think I stayed outside about an hour if not more just staring at this thing. It’s awesome.
Looks so much like a star to the naked eye. What a peculiar little thing!
October 25th, 2007 at 5:30 am
I have also just read that the Moon will be at the closest point in its orbit tonight, but we have cloudy skies forcast, dam!
October 25th, 2007 at 5:46 am
If the comet broke up a bit, would that increase the chance of a late-october meteor shower in the future?
October 25th, 2007 at 5:48 am
Yep, that drought we’ve been having here in Maryland has finally broke. Yep, it’s been raining like crazy. Still raining today. Yep, plenty o’ clouds in the sky. Yep, yep, yep.
J. D.
October 25th, 2007 at 6:23 am
Hey, Jeff Sonas:
The effect you mention on the ISS may be caused by sunlight passing through layers of clouds on the limb of the Earth, just like the sunbeams one sometimes sees at sunset from the surface, only extendint out into NEO space.
October 25th, 2007 at 7:54 am
With the yellowing moon setting to the west, the faint traces of dawn beginning to lighten the sky, and the traffic helicopters noisily whirring to and fro and all about (I live close to the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge) I was still able to spot Comet 17/P Holmes within minutes of my reading about it on your blog. Thank you Phil for passing along the information.
October 25th, 2007 at 7:59 am
BA:
> Yeah, it does look planet-like. It’s weird.
It’s the Death Star coming for us! The sudden increase in brightness was due to them turning on the running lights once they dropped out of hyperdrive.
Tonight’s forecast: rain and cloudy.
Tomorrow night’s forecast: rain and 100% cloud coverage.
Saturday night: rain and cloudy.
Sunday/Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday: partly cloudy.
Well, at least I got to see Hyukatake when it came through.
October 25th, 2007 at 9:01 am
Took a look at it through an 8″ SCT, I saw an arrowhead shaped nucleus surrounded by a bright, mottled coma. Absolutely awesome! Too bad for the southern hemisphere guys, but they did get a much better look at MacNaught than we did.
If it lasts until Halloween, I will set up my scope on the sidewalk and show the kids.
October 25th, 2007 at 9:03 am
No meteors from this one, the perihelion is outside the Earth’s orbit, greater than 2AU, so says the background info linked in the previous item.
October 25th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Don’t forget about Comet Loneos (C/2007 F1 LONEOS), which will reach perihelion on Sunday, Oct. 28th. Heavens-above currently shows it @ 5.5, located between Bootes & Libra. It should be visible shortly after sunset for Northern Hemisphereans.
We’re currently rained out in the Deep South, but it appears that the gods will stop urinating this weekend.
October 25th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I heard about this last night in the JREF IRC and I ran out with my 6″ Dob to try to find this coment. Sadly, the moon was so blanking bright that you could read by the thing! I couldn’t see squat, and i live in a rural area.
I’ll try again tonight.
October 25th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
[...] I learned all this on Bad Astronomy, and Phil has David Morrison’s NEO news piece of today in full (here), as well as further links to information sources and another post on locating the object here, and some of his pictures here. [...]
October 25th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
[...] Bad Astronomy http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/10/24/comet-holmes-wow/ [...]
October 25th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Phil said “My back is killing me, or else I’d have the ’scope on this in a hot second.”
Well I was just at the Austin Maker Faire last weekend and Slooh had a show special which is still available: Regular $99 for 1 year of the unlimited membership is available as 2 years for $99 via this “secret” link …
https://www.slooh.com/mf_signup.php
The email I received said that this would be available for a limited time, but to feel free to tell other people about the secret deal.
This might also appeal to people who cannot otherwise get to a telescope.
BTW, I have no connection with Slooh and am not a member (yet).
October 25th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Comets (2) in End Times (3) were explained before by End Times Prophet. Also the “comets” without tail.
Notes
(1) New Scientist announcing the one million factor, the number is a hoax.
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn12837-comet-brightens-mysteriously-by-a-factor-of-a-million.html
But it still is TOTALLY unprecedented.
(2) 2006
http://www.goldismoney.info/forums/t36398-broken-comet-73pschwassmanwachmann-by-prophet-who-explained-comet-bradfield-in-2004.html
2004 – Comet Bradfield – start here: Toutatis hoax – how and why
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1230167/posts
(3) http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22We+are+at+the+***+very+last+***+chapter+of+the+Bible%22
October 25th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
I got it – and I have some halfway decent photos too. Never thought I would catch it (esp. after a nice double martini) – but I managed to snag it with all three instruments – the binocs, the 4″ dob and the Canon 20D with the long lens. If there aren’t any better shots, I will try to post one or two.
JC
October 25th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
EUREKA! I took a little doing, but I found it.
A large fuzzy blob with a bright center. No tail. Too big to be a star. I used an Orion 6 inch Dob with a f/8 focal ratio. I actually found that the view was better using than 25mm eyepiece than I did with my 10mm. (I need to get some more eyepieces.)
October 25th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Saw it from Boston (abysmal light pollution made worse by my 1.5km proximity to Fenway Park) , with my 8″ dob. estimate mag. 2.4, a little fainter than Mirfak (above) and clearly much brighter than Delta Persei (to right). Surprisingly sharp edge on halo, c.3 arcmin in diameter, slight asymmetry around central fuzzy point
Remember that a lunar eclipse accompanied the Red Sox winning the World Series in ‘04. Another good omen for Red Sox Nation ?!
October 25th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Very nice!! Reminds me of a planetary nebula – or an egg served sunny side up!
October 26th, 2007 at 6:31 am
I saw reports of the sudden brightening early last evening so I went out with binoculars around 9:00 PM. I almost couldn’t figure out where Perseus was under the bright full moon, as I didn’t recognize the star pattern. Then I put binoculars on the area – HOLY COW, that one “star” IS the comet! The comet was the leftmost star in a backwards “L” between Mirfak and Delta Persei. The “star” pattern was confusing me and I didn’t recognize the constellation! The comet was EASILY naked-eye visible, even under a moon so bright I could read by it.
I ran in to get my 8″ Celestron SCT, and I couldn’t believe how large this was under only 77 power! Very bright, with a noticeably brighter central core, and a tiny “pinprick” of very bright light offset slightly to one sice in the central core. It took me a while to get the scope in good focus, I had to focus on a different star in the vicinity and then move back. An incredible sight!
To my eyes, the comet was not as bright as Mirfak but was most definitely brighter than Delta Persei. We’re going to be clouded out for a couple of days, but I hope it stays bright for a while so I can show others.
October 26th, 2007 at 8:55 am
APOD has it featured today:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071026.html
November 1st, 2007 at 5:09 am
Stupid Southern Hemisphere!!!
November 6th, 2007 at 12:24 am
I have posted a bunch of time-lapse videos of the comet, i will be adding more over the next few days and weeks as long as its still visible
http://www.revver.com/playlist/show/291594/
its really bright now and if you use a 200mm lens its really pretty big in the frame.
t
November 6th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
most excellent photos, let me just say to everybody i thank you i’m still new in useing my telescope all your photos had a big help . I have a Mead 2090 with auto star computer, i was able to see it fairly well with a 20 mm lensetried to take photos holding my digital cam to the lense ended up dropping my camrea and breaking it, OOOOPSY but once again thanks to all excellent job !!!!!
November 10th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
[...] at 0800 UT on October 30, 2007 at Costa Mesa, California – via Wikipedia.Now, the net has been full of reports about comet Holmes these last days. However, I hadn’t really taken note of it – but [...]