DarrellW
newbie
Reged: 12/26/06
Posts: 4
Loc: Eastern TN
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Just found it with my 16x50 binocs! This thing is spectacular! It definitely still has a faint yellow color. I wasn't able to distinguish a nucleus though. Now that I know where to look the scope's definitely coming back out tomorrow night. I do think I gotta trash "The Sky" by Orion though and invest in Starry Night. The comet's actual position is no where near where "The Sky" says it's supposed to be, thus my earlier problems in locating it.
Darrell
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tboss70
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/25/05
Posts: 1992
Loc: Missouri
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Yep, the other two spots of light are stars...see images below. (THis picture take 10/27) The arrow shows where Holmes ends up on 10/28.
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Todd
Edited by tboss70 (10/28/07 10:28 PM)
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Glassthrower
Vendor - Galactic Stone & Ironworks
Reged: 04/07/05
Posts: 14687
Loc: Hurricane Alley
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The outer halo is definitely spreading out, getting larger and becoming more diffuse, while the nucleus is becoming dimmer in comparison to it. This is at low powers ranging from 15x to 72x in the 2" Pentax. The yellow color is entirely gone. Still though, even after this apparent fading, it's the second brightest comet I have seen after Hale Bopp. 
It's interesting to watch it's progression night after night during this timely streak of good observing weather. (*knock on wood*) 
Regards and clear skies,
MikeG
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Michael Gilmer - Member of the Meteoritical Society & Collector of Falling Stars.
Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Buy/Sell/Trade Meteorites, Moon Rocks, Mars Rocks, & 35 different falls and types!
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tboss70
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/25/05
Posts: 1992
Loc: Missouri
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This picture shows Holmes by the arrow in the above picture
(This picture taken 10/28)
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Todd
Edited by tboss70 (10/28/07 10:27 PM)
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Tonk
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/19/04
Posts: 3579
Loc: Leeds, UK, 54N
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Quote:
Just spent the last hour scanning the area I thought it would be with my Orion Starmax 127 but no luck.
Try binns first - you can't miss it - in eastern Perseus forming isoselles trigangle with delta and alpha Perseus - making left hand apex of the base with alpha at the pointy end of triangle. its as bright as delta Perseus
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Televue 85, GM-8/Gemini, Canon 10D
Coronado SM60/BF10, Baader Herschel Wedge
Leeds Sky Clock Ripon Sky Clock
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Mike K
sage
Reged: 04/01/07
Posts: 464
Loc: Central Texas
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I've been watching it all evening. When I first set up at sunset, there were two evenly matched points in the center of the comet. It reminded me of a lion's face looking back at me. With averted vision, I could see a third point slightly to the East, very dim. It's been a couple of hours now. The north most "eye" has not moved in relation to the comet, I believe it is the same nucleus I have been observing over the past several nights. The southern "eye" I believe is HD 23676 (mag 10.3). It has moved slightly east of its earlier position. The averted vision object, now visible in direct vision is, I believe, TYC 03334-0738 1 (mag 10.9), based on a chart in SkyTools.
Interestingly, all of my previous observing notes mention the comet being almost, but not perfectly round. Tonight it seems quite circular. I wonder if this is a real change in shape, or a flaw in my observations.
Also, I noted tonight that the halo seems to have a rather sharp and distinct boundary on the northeast edge, but somewhat softer and less defined on the southwestern edge. Does anyone else see it the same way?
Clear skies,
Mike K.
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Clear skies,
Mike K.
30°31" N 97°44" W, LP: Red
Observe: Once or twice a week back yard, once a month under dark skies
Favorites: Globulars, planets, face-on spirals
Equipment: CPC925/XT10i/TMB-92SS/Lunt LS60THaDS
Eyepieces: Naglers, Ethoi, UO HDs, Hyperion Zoom
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PRESTON
super member
Reged: 10/28/04
Posts: 147
Loc: Haldimand, Ontario, Canada
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Mike, about the distict boundary on the northeast, and soft on the southwest, I definately observed this tonight while sketching, see my sketch a few posts above, I show a hint of that in there.
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15x70 Binocular & Tripod
114/900 EQ Newtonian
150/1200 Dob Newtonian
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ursamajor
member
Reged: 07/24/07
Posts: 88
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Hard to believe you could see a 10th mag star through a comet in the city with a near full moon. Amazing.
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Using a goto scope is like fishing with hand grenades...
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Mike K
sage
Reged: 04/01/07
Posts: 464
Loc: Central Texas
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Quote:
Hard to believe you could see a 10th mag star through a comet in the city with a near full moon. Amazing.
Moon was still below the horizon. Just a happy me and a 10" dob in the back yard.
The CSC has been kind this week too! 
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Clear skies,
Mike K.
30°31" N 97°44" W, LP: Red
Observe: Once or twice a week back yard, once a month under dark skies
Favorites: Globulars, planets, face-on spirals
Equipment: CPC925/XT10i/TMB-92SS/Lunt LS60THaDS
Eyepieces: Naglers, Ethoi, UO HDs, Hyperion Zoom
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jwaldo
Smart Mime
Reged: 04/26/04
Posts: 3506
Loc: SoCal
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Quote:
The yellow color is entirely gone.
To me, it appears to be a faint yellow-green color now. Though certainly not the intense yellow it was at first 
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-Jim
DHQ 8"
C102 w/ upgraded focuser
ZenithStar 66 ED Triplet
DSH 6"
Transporter 70
Sears 60/900mm
10x50's & assorted other binos
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Old Dinosaur
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 05/08/07
Posts: 839
Loc: Out in the sagebrush
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I agree with the observation on the boundaries, last night it seemed to be so and tonight even more pronounced. I also believe I see an annular shape in the eastern portion, anybody else notice it?
I had over an hour of good viewing tonight before the moon rose over a ridge to my NE, that was nice.
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WRS Observatory
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tboss70
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/25/05
Posts: 1992
Loc: Missouri
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Mike, I see it the same way too. Let me post a picture and see if this is similar...
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Todd
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Phillip Creed
Idiot Seeking Village
Reged: 07/25/06
Posts: 1033
Loc: NE Ohio
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This is an amazing circumstance. A once-in-a-lifetime cometary event, and the weather's actually *cooperated* in Northeast Ohio?! This is the 4th night I've been able to observe this out of 5 nights.
I went up to the house of Dave Miller ("Dave_M" on Cloudy Nights). I arrived a little after 8:30 p.m. He had his 10" SCT set-up, and this was the first telescopic view I've had of the comet, since my 16" mirror is away for re-coating. I set up the 25x100s next to the scope. We tried out a variety of eyepieces, including a Meade 4000 14-mm UWA (181X), a 22-mm Vixen Lanthanum SuperWide (115X), and a *suh-weet* 30-mm Musayama (85X).
Mike K., we both saw what you noticed--the SW edge of the coma did seem dimmer and more ill-defined vs. last night.
The following is in the Charles Morris comet observation format:
17P/Holmes:
Oct 29.04 UT: m1=2.5, Dia = 3', DC = 8...NE...Phillip J. Creed (Barberton, OH) [Very similar appearance to the naked-eye compared to last night. In the 25x100s, it seems a bit larger than it was last night. The diffuse, outer coma appears like a ghostly gauze of about 15' diameter, with the brighter, inner coma stretching about 8' in diameter in the 25x100s.
In the 10" the comet is just visually commanding. The boundary between the inner and outer comas is distinct in the 25x100s, but not in the 10" at 85X. The most appealing view visually seemed to be with the 22-mm LVW at 115X.
The "shadow arc" that I've noticed the past two nights was still there. It's most prominent at powers below 100X. Also, above 100X, the "outer halo" was difficult to see telescopically due to much lower surface brightness. I have no doubt that as we get away from full moon, the outer halo will be *prominent* in binoculars from dark-sky locations.
One difference of note vs. last night was that the southern and western sections of the coma were dimmer. They were still there, but the sharp demarcation between the inner and outer comas wasn't as distinct on the SW edge.]
Clear Skies,
Phil
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"Why suffer from insanity when you can revel in it?"
Wilderness Center Astronomy Club member since 1995
ICQ Comet Observer Code: CRE01
*****
16" f/4.5 Truss Dobsonian (FOR SALE!!)
Orion 120mm ST Refractor
23mm Axiom LX
13mm Nagler Type 6
9mm Nagler Type 6
1.75X Siebert Barlow
*****
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mbz
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/13/05
Posts: 4929
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Great pictures and reports, everybody.
Could somebody, please, help me to find the comet at my picture. Is it, where I put question mark? Thank you.
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weatherandsky
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/27/06
Posts: 1564
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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Here is my quick snap of the comet from a few hours ago. You can definately see the comet core and the two other steller points. The comet core has a fuzzier look to it.
Mbz: yes the comet is the bright 'star' below the question mark. Grab a pair of binoculars or a small scope and take a look at this cool object.
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Kerry
* Weather and Sky Photography *
QHY-8, Canon 40D unmodded, Meade DSI-C
Meade 12" LightBridge
Celestron C6-SCT
Sky-Watcher Equinox 80mm APO
Omcon 4.5" Newt
Celestron Skymaster 15x70
Canon 50 f1.8, 100 f2.8Macro, 100-400 f4.5-5.6L, Sigma 17-70, 18-50, 28-300
CGE, CG-5 GT
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mbz
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/13/05
Posts: 4929
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Thank you, Kerry. Great image!
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BillP
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/26/06
Posts: 2244
Loc: Vienna, VA
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That is it. Where the "?" is in your pic. In an 9x50 finder scope there is no doubt it is the comet as it looks like a very bright nebula in the finder scope.
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250mm f/4.7 Orion XT10i Dobsonian
102mm f/8.0 Tak TSA Super-APO
66mm f/5.9 WO ZenithStar SD APO
40mm f/10 Coronado P.S.T.
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Glassthrower
Vendor - Galactic Stone & Ironworks
Reged: 04/07/05
Posts: 14687
Loc: Hurricane Alley
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Quote:
Great pictures and reports, everybody.
Could somebody, please, help me to find the comet at my picture. Is it, where I put question mark? Thank you.
Yup, that's it.
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Michael Gilmer - Member of the Meteoritical Society & Collector of Falling Stars.
Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Buy/Sell/Trade Meteorites, Moon Rocks, Mars Rocks, & 35 different falls and types!
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Dave M
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/03/04
Posts: 4519
Loc: N.E Ohio
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Imaged this bad boy with the Meade 10" SCT tonight.
10" @ F6.3 " 1575mm " Canon 20D
Single unprocessed sub, 15 seconds @ ISO-800
I shot 60 of these  plus 50 Darks.
This comet is addictive..
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Dave
Meade 16" F4.5 EQ Starfinder
Meade 10" SCT / Losmandy G11
Tak FSQ106ED
Canon 20D
SBig ST-4
http://www.spacew.com/gallery/DM
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Special Ed
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/03
Posts: 3531
Loc: Greenbrier Co., WV 38N, 80W
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After six straight days of overcast I finally got to see Holmes and it was worth the wait. An easy object with the unaided eye even in bright moonlight--*much* brighter than delta Perseii (mag 3). I cranked up the magnification with the 8mm Burgess/TMB and had a very clear view, although I may have lost some of the outer coma in the process. As the Moon gained altitude, I started to lose some of the structure I could see earlier. I'm glad the Moon is on the wane, much as I love it.
The northern edge of the outer coma appeared more distinct than its opposite side and was also brighter along its outer boundary. Two stars could be seen through the coma--the easternmost star needed averted vision.
A very striking and beautiful comet.
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Michael Rosolina
8" f/10 Orange Tube SCT
4.25" f/4.2 Astroscan Reflector
SVP 3.6" f/13.6 CA Reflector
40mm PST f/10
APM Germany HD 15x70 binoculars
Canon 12x36 IS II binoculars
Mark I Eyeball
My CN Gallery
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