Comments on: Comet 17/P Holmes update

By: LDS Anarchist

LDS Anarchist — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:45:15 +0000

He (McCanney) is now claiming on his web site that Holmes has brightened again and that it is now 6-8 times the diameter of the Sun. Can anyone confirm this?

By: vince

vince — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 09:50:25 +0000

So…
If Comet 17/P Holmes gets much brighter again around December 22 (and especially if we get a rash of out of season hurricanes), does that lend credence to Jim McCanny’s “bad” astronomy?

Just asking because he’s the only one I can find making that prediction. Another Q:

How many years does it have to hang around before he gets a little “astro-love”?

By: Roy from Mass.

Roy from Mass. — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 03:32:43 +0000

No newspaper (or TV) coverage? My guess is, the media probably thinks “this kind of thing” is too exotic? or “esoteric”?? For example, “the kids might like it”. It’s not popular like sports….

By: Roy from Mass.

Roy from Mass. — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 01:25:47 +0000

As a twist of irony, it’s almost more impressive through BINOCULRS than a telescope!

By: Roy from Mass.

Roy from Mass. — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 01:21:12 +0000

I have been following the comet (given a CLEAR sky) for about a month now…all I’ve seen is just the coma, NO nucleus at all!
I have both binoculars AND an 8″ newtonian reflector; but tonight, it’s a full moon ! Using a nearby guide star, I track its motion…BUT to me, it’s VERY nebulous (no pun intended) or amorphous!
I almost have to use averted vision.

By: Bob Gomez

Bob Gomez — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:25:51 +0000

In Phoenix, Az @ 5:15 am, it looks simply amazing, even through binoculars.

Standard ice-ball & dust descriptions do not apply to this object. This is an electrical phenomenon, an interaction between the Sun, Comet Holmes and plasma energy.

Tesla lives.

By: Randy

Randy — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:43:47 +0000

I have been watching this thing for many weeks now. I have been telling everybody I know about it. At first I thought it was a planet.. Because it was so bright and large. It was brilliant. Definately a once in a lifetime experience.. I only want to know why it blew up and wether or not its blowing up will affect us in the future. I guess time will only tell. Until then. Keep watching the skies. I know i will……

By: rubem brisolla

rubem brisolla — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:38:46 +0000

IÂ´m from central Brazil and I was surprised last night when I looked to Perseus and found this huge bright fuzzy thing, which I found, through your site, to be 17P Holmes comet.

By: teri

teri — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 23:19:19 +0000

also live in Central
florida. I also want to see the comet. What is the best time? and what quadrsnt of the night sky?

By: Catherine

Catherine — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 03:00:47 +0000

What is the farthest place south that you can see the comet? I really want to see it, and I live in central Florida. I am thinking about driving up the east coast so I can see it, but I need to know where.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:24:23 +0000

After re-orienting myself on Monday night (1/12/07), I finally found the little guy. I was about to give up when I spotted an area that looked a little different from the rest of the sky. Using my binoculars, I confirmed my suspicions.

This is not a comet. This is a piece of fuzzy blue-green lint on the fabric of space-time. Again, Einstein was correct! What a genius!

I understand that the Japanese are hurrying to launch a cosmic lint roller in an attempt to bring it back to earth. It would be a tremendous coup.

However, some theologians argue that we should not interfere with it – that it is beyond our comprehension. They maintain that what we humble beings are seeing is nothing less than the Lint in God’s Navel!

If they are right, then we should not be contemplating God’s Navel.

(Seriously, this is an amazing sight.)

By: Flora

Flora — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:40:38 +0000

Thank everyone for the help. As I am out most evenings I am becoming a star gazer. I told my daughter that I was going to get her a telescope for Christmas. What I really meant is that I will get her a telescope so that when she loses interest, I will have a practically new telescope. I will continue to stop by for updates on interesting events to watch in the evening sky.
Thanks again for the help.

By: a wikipedian

a wikipedian — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 17:38:26 +0000

Hi. Clear skies are predicted again tonight, so I hope I can get another good look at the comet. Finding the comet, even in my telescope, is no problem for me. You can find it too. First, go outside on a clear evening, and find north. If you don’t know where north is, look for three bright stars that form a triangle. Look in the opposite direction of sky, and locate the big dipper. Find the pointer stars that point towards Polaris, then shift yourself a little more toward the right. You will see a bright star low in the sky called Capella. Look above Capella and a little to the left, and there’s a relatively bright star. Look closely, and that star forms a triangle of three rather-semi-bright “star”s. The “star” on the left-bottom part of the triangle is the comet. It should look like a fuzzy ball in binoculars. If you need a star map, try this one: http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky . Now, tonight I’ll try to find Uranus. I’ve got my finderscope adjusted, so hopefully I’ll find it. ~~~~

By: Andrew Brown.

Andrew Brown. — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:47:14 +0000

I wonder idf the HiRISE on the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter got a look? Mars & Holmes are on the same side of the Sun after all.

Holmes was only about 1,3 AU from Mars at the time.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 01:55:01 +0000

Get real, NASA dragging? Sorry, they don’t have an unlimited budget and certainly don’t knee-jerk react to situations like this. This wasn’t a planned event after all.

People get what they pay for.

By: Matt Van Auker

Matt Van Auker — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 02:56:52 +0000

The research on this is horrible. I don’t understand; why aren’t Brian Marsden and Don Yeomans involved? We don’t have speed, what the gas was that caused the explosion, nor basic compositional data of the comet itself. You can contact me at mattvanauker@yahoo.com. I’m just trying to find some basic data on this, which is completely absent from the Internet. Wow. This sucks. NASA is dragging its dead, sorry-ass on this.

By: The Guild of Scientific Troubadours » Seen an exploding comet lately?

The Guild of Scientific Troubadours » Seen an exploding comet lately? — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 07:06:16 +0000

[...] 17P/Holmes suddenly exploded on October 24, and is now visible as a comet to the naked eye. No one’s sure why – it might [...]

By: Steph

Steph — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:47:35 +0000

To Jacob: I read some of what you had to say (on your site) about a lot of s Nasa or any space agencies talking about this comet. Actually, if you go there to see what they have to say, you will see a really nice “short movie” of the outburst (from Oct 25 through Oct 27) and beside it to show how “big” this was is a picture of Jupiter. Don’t stir the stupid pot man. Don’t spew what you don’t really know or investigated just to be able to spew! Thank you.

By: M&M from Texas

M&M from Texas — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:44:46 +0000

My husband noticed this with his naked eyes as he was in the hot tub in the backyard. He said something is going on. He did not recall seeing such a large bright fuzzy object in the sky. We then did some searches on the net and sure enough found out it was a comet explosion. The media has not covered any of it- only global warming discussions which is so insignificant and trivial compare to something like this.

By: FJ Garcia

FJ Garcia — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 03:04:51 +0000

this probably helps: Just north of Boston, MA with heavy light pollution, yet had no problem!

By: FJ Garcia

FJ Garcia — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:59:49 +0000

Just spent a few minutes looking at it. Even got my wife to come out and look. With the naked eye it looked like a fuzzy star. Used a very cheap pair of binoculars and could definetly see the “cloud” and a slightly brighter center. Pretty neat!

For Flora: http://www.skyandtelescope.com had a couple of very simple star charts that helped me locate where to look. Hope this helps.

By: Flora Thurman

Flora Thurman — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:31:48 +0000

I am new to this. Can someone tell me where I should look? I live on the coast of North Carolina. I think I see this in the Northern sky just above tree line. I am not sure though. Any help would be appreciated. I have been trying to help my ten year old daughter. She is very interested and I never learned about astronomy and the constellations. We have watched two meteor showers together this summer.

By: Dave Peterson

Dave Peterson — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:55:05 +0000

Nov. 3, rural Harnett Co., North Carolina 11pm. I could see the comet tonight with the naked eye and with a cheap pair of binoculars, it was very obvious. beautiful clear sky, very bright stars tonight! I even dragged my wife outside to see it!

By: Dave Peterson

Dave Peterson — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:54:42 +0000

By: a wikipedian

a wikipedian — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 16:46:59 +0000

Hi. I’m from Canada, and I saw the comet last night (Nov 2). Unfourtuneatly I didn’t see Comet McNaught earlier this year, but I did see this one. Since I live in a light-polluted reigon and my eyesight isn’t all that good, I first saw a glimpse of the comet in my binoculars. Using my telescope, I could see a fuzzy ball about 10 arcmins in diameter, with a bright spot in the middle. Too bad my telescope is only 2 in. Some people say it will become bigger than the moon’s apparent size. It’s already 70% the diametre of the Sun. BTW Comet McNaught’s coma was bigger than the sun at its largest. ~~~~