Got the first opportunity to see it this evening as twilight began. Got the binos on it. Fab sight.....

Just waiting for the scope to cool now!!!

Paul, your photo shows exactly how I saw it..... well done!!!!!!

Just had a look through the binoculars there. Nice fuzzy shape.

The Moon is rising.

Took a look just now. Appears larger again. Can now see a couple of stars behind the comet. Skies are a little hazy unfortunately. :cry:

Here it is through the 6"...

That's a good image Paul. Compares very well to what it looks like through my scope.
What camera was that taken with?

That's with my Minolta Dynax 5D at the prime focus of a Meade LXD75 6 inch Newtonian f=762mm 8 secs at ISO 800. I took a whole range of exposures, I haven't even looked at them all yet.

Hey there everyone

With the naked eye this comet is obvious, it forms a nice triangle with epsion and zeta Persei and I estimate it's magnitude at 3.

In 10X50 binos it's an impressive, fuzzy object. Bringing out the 80mm refractor opens up a whole new world. At 28X the circular nature of Holmes is apparent, a central core is a solid object and surrounded by a nebulous halo of diffuse light. Buried in the halo, at the 10o'clock position, is a faint star of 6th or 7th magnitude that adds to the appeal. Boosting the magnification to 37X and the 60X added some, but the best view was at 28X.

Took the family out to have a look and some friends who were around and "WOW" was the general concensous of opinion.

Moved out to the front garden and persuaded a couple of passers-by to have a look, got some funny looks when I asked them if they wanted to see the comet, got good reviews after. Most were impressed when I pointed it out to the naked eye.

Going to do some double star work now and then observe the moon when it gets a little higher.

Wow nice photo!
cant see it from here (middle of cork city)
Thanks everyone for the updates and photos!!

A great image there Paul, very true to the eye view of it through the scope!

It's just amazing! It looked better tonight through the scope though I've wall to wall cloud here at the minute.

I showed it off to my neighbours, first off all naked eye, using Mirfak and Delta Persei and the comet to form an arrow point, Mirfak being the point. It was then they realised it looked different from the stars, it's definitely fuzzy even naked eye. I stood for ages just watching it naked eye taking in the fact it was a comet (am I sounding like an imbecile again??!!)

The icing on the cake was the view they saw through the scope, the nucleus and the coma clearly visible and I think I can see a tail (but it could be my elderly eyes!!)

Actually, I lie, the icing on the cake was giving directions to one of the EAAS members over the phone as he hadn't seen it yet, and the excitement in his voice when he finally observed it was wonderful!

I love passing on my limited knowledge!!!

Image from earlier tonight. Not sure of the scale bar on the image so maybe somebody can give a yes or no on the scale.

The comet has moved a noticable amount this evening realitive to the background stars. Those two background stars which were on the edge of the halo are now near the centre.
I firmly believe we are witnessing a truly unique event which may never happen again at this scale for many many years.

The comet has moved a noticable amount this evening realitive to the background stars. Those two background stars which were on the edge of the halo are now near the centre.

Ah so that's what's going on! I thought that suddenly we had two nuclei.

Also is the inner area of the 'disc' darker than the outer rim? It seems to be though the eyepiece, not sure if that's an illusion though.

This is two stops less exposure - may hold more detail...

paulevans wrote:

This is two stops less exposure - may hold more detail...

Great shot Paul and exactly what I am seeing through my 80ED and 20x80 binoculars.

It's clearly fuzzy naked eye and I estimate it to be around mag. 2.2 now, not as bright as Mirphak yet getting ever closer. So glad we are getting clear skies for this truly amazing event and being able to observe it's constantly changing appearance. Will we ever see a comet jump 16 magnitudes like this again!

Great images folks,i got this one tonight.

Also is the inner area of the 'disc' darker than the outer rim? It seems to be though the eyepiece, not sure if that's an illusion though.

Yes I agree Albert. Through the eyepiece, I could see noticeable darkish patches inside the outer rim. I don't think it's an illusion.

BREAKING NEWS!!!

The comet appears to have broken into at least two (possibly 3) pieces.
Dave Brannigan and I have been imaging this since the clouds broke with Daves Atik 16IC and an 8" SCT. There are two definite chunks now widely seperated in the core.

Get out now and look!!! (remember you heard it here first!)

BREAKING NEWS!!!

The comet appears to have broken into at least two (possibly 3) pieces.
Dave Brannigan and I have been imaging this since the clouds broke with Daves Atik 16IC and an 8" SCT. There are two definite chunks now widely seperated in the core.

Get out now and look!!! (remember you heard it here first!)

You sure you are not just seeing the background stars that Michael mentioned earlier?

Paul's image just above taken earlier this evening shows two relatively bright stars on the edge of the halo. As the evening progressed, the comet could be seen moving directly across these stars, the fainter one of which went directly behind the nucleus and has popped out the far side now. The nucleus and these two stars make a nice little equilaterial triangle as I speak, but this triangle will get increasing more isosceles as the night progresses due to the movement of the comet.
Sorry to break the bad news John.

We have two equally sized chunks and a background star in our images, will post an unprocessed image shortly. Just uncoupling cameras now. I have also confirmed this with some shots from my DSLR also, though it's not as clear as Daves. Give us a mo'.

OK here you go see what you think. This is just a single frame unprocessed.



If you've tracked these stars earlier then Bug££r me. We've been getting all worked up for nothing.

John,

IMHO, those two extra points of light near the nucleus are background stars. I believe they are the same two stars you see in the 7'o'clock position of Paul Evans' previous image on the edge of the halo. Starry Night Pro also indicates two stars near the comet centre this evening, of mag 10.8 and 9.2. I was following the comet all evening long with the 16" and could see the comet get closer and closer to these two stars. The nucleus nearly ran directly across the fainter one.
Of course, I would much prefer if they really were cometary fragments - that would be really cool.

Michael,

I think you're right. Looking back on some previous images here you can see the relevant movement. We've been getting excited about nowt.
Would have been nice though and would have explained a lot about the sudden brightening of this rogue.