To be fair to you John, it is a remarkable coincidence that the comet has crossed two relatively bright stars. Considering the fact that it has just outburst and with cloud cover preventing you from seeing the motion of the comet from earlier in the evening, I can perfectly understand why you would have got excited.

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!)

Calm down guys..just background stars, TYC 3334-0788 and -0738.

I saw those stars just inside the edge of the halo earlier this evening..the comet has moved bringing then towards the centre.

DG's and DB's shots blow mine out of the water, but for what it's worth, here's my effort - 2 second image - hand held camera to eyepiece at around 23.40ish:



Phil.

Did I miss something?

Welcome Stevie - perhaps I was the only one to notice your post in the melee...

Comet 17/P Holmes
28th October 2007
18:40 UT Mag 2
1200mm/8mm/150X Pastel/ Conte/ Black Paper

Here is my sketch from yesterday evening. I had a longer look into the halo around the nucleus. The material emanating from
the pin point center seemed to be heading in a more southerly direction than on the 26th. I could see darker
areas fanning in the opposite direction in the inner halo. A star was visible just inside the outer halo.
I managed to sketch in some stars but have not identified them yet.
Because I could see a star through the out gassing then it must be very thin? The star was visually similar in size to the
comet nucleus but a little dimmer.

All this was visible even though there was a 17 day moon rising almost directly under the action.






Comet 17/P Holmes
29th October 2007
00:30 UT Mag 2
1200mm/8mm/150X Pastel/ Conte/ Black Paper

Here is my sketch from later on past midnight.
The coma looked different from earlier the nucleus had two stars for company which really did look like a split. The coma had a darker area and a bright area, with a ying and yang shape going on.
Earlier when I sketched in the star in the outer coma, it looked like it was just in blackness like the coma had vanished in that area.
In the second sketch the brightness within the coma seem more diffuse.
The nucleus and the bright star seemed to enhance the light within the coma even though the star is lightyears away and the nucleus is millions of miles away ??
It was much harder to see detail within the coma after midnight as the comet was closer to the moon.

Deirdre Kelleghan
Irish Astronomical Society

Spaceweather has a cool shot of what the comet looks like in comparison to Jupiter - really puts things in perspective:

www.spaceweather.com/comets/holmes/27oct...ns2a1i1unnn2a1521rh1

Wow, we're talking one huge outgassing eruption. I remember that the Hale-Bopp coma was huge - can't remember the figure, but some where hundreds of thousands of miles was quoted... :shock:

Great images folks,i got this one tonight.

Neat image Jonathan, what camera did you take that with?

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.

Oooh, a bit if a heart crunching moment there John? It did look like from your image above that you caught a second chunk detached from the comet mind you!

Seanie.

www.narrowbandimaging.com/comet_17_p_holmes_stokes_page.htm
Check this out all you imaging astronomers out there
Deirdre Kelleghan
Irish Astronomical Society

I went back and re-processed the AVI of Comet Holmes I took with the ETX
from the 24th.
I rushed the first image coz to be honest I was a zombie from lack of sleep
and excited about seeing my first Comet (lucky or what!?) through a scope, let alone photograph one.

I think it pretty much shows what I could see that night,
I can't believe how big it's become in just a few short days.

Hopefully It'll be clear tonight and I can get another shot with
the same settings to show the difference.




ETX-125, Phillips SPC900 Webcam, IR filter, 1min AVI, Registax & Photoshop.

Also,
I pushed the levels in Registax to see if there is a tail forming and I got this.
Can't be certain it's a processing artifact or a gas halo.
What do ye make of it?

Hi Dave, bit noisy on here innit? How's the world with you. Enjoying the show?

Here's an image from last night from the Canon 350D and C102SLT. No processing on this, apart from a bit of cropping:



Exposure of 30sec and ISO100.

Compared to an identical scale, exposure and ISO, shot from 26th just after midnight. It clearly shows the increase in size, though seeing conditions may have some effect.

28th:


26th:

John, a marvellous image there, really captures the eye view through the scope!
Frank, if you mean the bright oval background, I don't think the comet's causing that.

Wow, another great shot there John.
Dave, I guess it's just good old registax wishful thinking. :wink:

Have you been observing this beauty much thru the Dob?
I'm getting the 12'' and the ETX set up for tonight.
Fingers x'd the weather holds.

Beware the dark side of comet Holmes! I just went out to have a look through my 10x50s and as I heard the door slam I realised that I didn't have my keys with me! I didn't have my phone either. So, I ended up borrowing a hammer to smash in my own window

John Murphy,
cool shot comparisons there, well done.

And here's tonight's Holmes - similar to last night's but perhaps a little more diffuse, and with different background stars

Beware the dark side of comet Holmes! I just went out to have a look through my 10x50s and as I heard the door slam I realised that I didn't have my keys with me! I didn't have my phone either. So, I ended up borrowing a hammer to smash in my own window

ouch!

Doohh!

Anyway, I had a good long stare at this thing with the naked eye and it is definitely not as pinpoint as the stars near it,
does it look diffuse to anyone else or am I seeing what I think is there ?

I also think it looks slightly diffuse to the naked eye Dave.

You're right Dave, it is fuzzy to the naked eye. My wife says so!

The central nebulous region of the comet beside the nucleus is less pronounced tonight, and the coma seems more diffuse, although the nucleus itself is still bright. The strong yellow colour of a few days ago has almost gone. Overall, the outgassing seems to be dying down and I suspect the comet may start to fade soon, although I would be delighted to be proved wrong. So keep a close eye on it for a while yet.

Can anyone hazard a guess as to its magnitude tonight? I only got a brief look at Holmes through the 20" tonight before the clouds rolled in. The coma is definitely more diffuse and the annular shadow between the 'inner' and 'outer' coma is much less pronounced.

Phil.

You're right Dave, it is fuzzy to the naked eye. My wife says so!

Pointed it out to a couple of non observers tonight who noticed that it appeared fuzzy.

At long last I managed to get a gap in the clouds to image this comet. I was too lazy to set up the CGE so attempted a few shots at prime focus using the 6inch LXD and a Canon 350d. Here is the result..... my first comet image!!!!