canopus56
sage
Reged: 05/01/05
Posts: 298
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Here's my final - 6 x 8 arcmin - and a collage about the lack of an apparent tail -
Final 17P, 2-3 arcmin dia., cropped, resized, Meade LX200 10", DSI Pro I, 0.25 sec exp., 5 combined, processing AIP4WIN
http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/v/kurt/solarsystem/Comet+17P+Holmes/005.jpg.html
Collage about the orbit and lack of tail:
http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/v/kurt/solarsystem/Comet+17P+Holmes/comet17p_kaf.jpg.html
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mattz
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/03/06
Posts: 607
Loc: Where is Rescue CA?
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Quote:
Atention this nigth, the comet is much bigger.
Great, I'm out as soon as it's dark. It looked good last night, now it looks like it is growing a tail.
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Matt
Orion XT10i with Feather Touch and Paracorr
26T5 17T4
9, 7, & 5T6
Either 12T4 or 13T6, we'll see after the death match.
One homeless SV80S
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mattz
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/03/06
Posts: 607
Loc: Where is Rescue CA?
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Has anyone had any luck with any filters giving interesting results? I would think not since it's just reflected sunlight.
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Matt
Orion XT10i with Feather Touch and Paracorr
26T5 17T4
9, 7, & 5T6
Either 12T4 or 13T6, we'll see after the death match.
One homeless SV80S
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Americal
super member
Reged: 09/14/07
Posts: 120
Loc: Under the L. A. lightdome
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I did last night with a Baader Neodium. Generally dimmed the corona but the core was more defined. Overall the raw field gave more information. I thought with all our smoke it might have an unexpected effect but, no.
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Tom
It's OK Mom, I can fixit
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4 1/4" f/5 homebuilt Newt
6" f/8 homebuilt Newt
8" f/5.1 homebuilt Newt
C11 ASGT (no, it's not homebuilt)
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Carol L
Reged: 07/05/04
Posts: 5880
Loc: Tomahawk, WI 45N//89W
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Thank you Ronson, your second image is almost exactly what I saw through the eyepiece.
Nice job! 
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 *Step-by-Step Lunar Sketching*
CN Gallery
Photo Gallery
8"SCT ~ 120achro ~ 90Mak ~ 80ST ~ 11x70s ~ 22x100s
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Glassthrower
Vendor - Galactic Stone & Ironworks
Reged: 04/07/05
Posts: 14687
Loc: Hurricane Alley
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Good question Matt about filters.
Has anyone tried the Lumicon Comet filter?
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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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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 3169
Loc: Ireland
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I don't have a Comet filter, but I tried a Lumicon DeepSky and a Lumicon OIII. The comet is reflecting plenty of photons to punch through either, but they didn't show any extra detail and they rob it of its beautiful yellow color. I didn't bother trying the UHC as it should give performance in between.
Other than being dramatically larger (maybe 2.25' tonight as opposed to 1'), it doesn't look much different than last night. The color has faded a bit, and the outside rim has brightened a bit (almost like the Eskimo Nebula). I *think* the fan is a bit more diffuse as well, but it's hard to judge. I don't see any tails, but then the moon is closer and the humidity much higher than last night (I've never seen a background so gray).
I did another sketch which I'll scan in in the morning.
Cheers,
-- Jeff
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-100 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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plutarko
journeyman
Reged: 03/12/07
Posts: 9
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Hi all!
My last pictures tonight:
The comet is geting bigger and bigger, perhaps my webcam is not enought sensitive to image the comet tomorrow 
Good night to all and clear skyes!
David
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zee
super member
Reged: 07/04/07
Posts: 134
Loc: Arizona (varies)
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Thanks for those pix, David (and all others). It's fascinating to watch it grow
Man, my heart goes out to those of you who are under cloudy skies for this. Ouch! May the clouds blow away soon.
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8" Orion classic dob
15x70 Celestron Skymaster
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John Kocijanski
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/22/03
Posts: 1488
Loc: Monticello, NY
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Awesome images. I just got in from viewing it. I could just pick it out naked eye in the bright moonlight. It shows up in binoculars nicely. I got out my XT4.5 to view it in a 32mm plossl then a 13mm T6 Nagler. It is a very odd looking comet.
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John
Deep Space Observer 10 * SPC-8 * C102 HD f/10 * XT 4.5 * AT1010N * PST *
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PRESTON
super member
Reged: 10/28/04
Posts: 147
Loc: Haldimand, Ontario, Canada
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I hope we will get a Hubble image of this comet. I think the interest warrants a look. What do you guy's think? If the science community decides to view it through Hubble, how long will it take for us to get an image back? Couple of days? Tomorow?
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15x70 Binocular & Tripod
114/900 EQ Newtonian
150/1200 Dob Newtonian
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Tommy5
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/28/04
Posts: 1392
Loc: Chicagoland
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Wow great images and sketches everyone,tonight is cloudy, i will look again tomorrow night, thanks RonB,your photos are great, i just can get snapshots of bright objects no real imaging for me,thanks again everyone, if not for this forum i would have missed the whole thing.
Edited by Tommy5 (10/25/07 09:30 PM)
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Mike K
sage
Reged: 04/01/07
Posts: 464
Loc: Central Texas
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Quote:
Has anyone tried the Lumicon Comet filter?
I tried one last night. It dimmed the view quite a lot and left only a stellar core visible. The unfiltered view was much better IMHO.
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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Glassthrower
Vendor - Galactic Stone & Ironworks
Reged: 04/07/05
Posts: 14687
Loc: Hurricane Alley
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Quote:
Has anyone tried the Lumicon Comet filter?
I tried one last night. It dimmed the view quite a lot and left only a stellar core visible. The unfiltered view was much better IMHO.
Thanks Mike. I was always curious about those, but was hesitant to drop the cash for something I would use only rarely, especially since I use only small aperture scopes.
Regards and clear skies,
MikeG
PS - I'm still socked in by clouds tonight. My CSC lied to me! 
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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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Bob_Stan
member
Reged: 01/08/06
Posts: 30
Loc: Northeast
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This looks to be my only clear night for the next 5 days - the comet is spectacular! To my eyes it seems to have a slighly yellowish cast. I couldn't believe it was so bright to the naked eye in spite of lousy skies and a full moon. In my CPC1100 at 190X it is really impressive, in spite of no visible tail.
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Dave Mitsky
Postmaster
Reged: 04/08/02
Posts: 6287
Loc: Pennsylvania, USA
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Quote:
Here's my final - 6 x 8 arcmin - and a collage about the lack of an apparent tail -
Final 17P, 2-3 arcmin dia., cropped, resized, Meade LX200 10", DSI Pro I, 0.25 sec exp., 5 combined, processing AIP4WIN
http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/v/kurt/solarsystem/Comet+17P+Holmes/005.jpg.html
Collage about the orbit and lack of tail:
http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/v/kurt/solarsystem/Comet+17P+Holmes/comet17p_kaf.jpg.html
Excellent work!
Dave Mitsky
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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
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Chopin
Canis Insanus
Reged: 02/03/05
Posts: 3379
Loc: In the doghouse.
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Quote:
This looks to be my only clear night for the next 5 days -
I hear you, Bob. Fortunately the "comet gods" blessed us in CT with at least this one night. The crummy part is that I am at work all night. The good news is that I grabbed the Pentax 8x40 before leaving the house. And thankfully I did, too. This is one cool comet. I'm absolutely shocked that I could make out some, albiet minor, detail. Even with the parking lot lights, and bright eyed Luna staring down, Holmes is easy naked eye. Although still dimmer than Mirfak, this "planetary nebulish" looking ice ball slightly out shines Delta Persei to my eyes. When throwing the 8x glasses at the comet the size almost blew me away! I really expected it to be much smaller. But the orb was very obvious, with a soft outter shell. I couldn't make a size estimate at 8x, but if I were to guess I'd say three to four times wider than Jupiter...maybe? The dense off center core is also clrealy seen at this magnification.
I wish I had my 12" dob right now. But even if I don't get a chance to use "Great White" on Holmes, just seeing it at all is a real thrill.
Time to step back out with the binos. 
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JasonŽ
Phlog
Edited by Chopin (10/25/07 10:39 PM)
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zee
super member
Reged: 07/04/07
Posts: 134
Loc: Arizona (varies)
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Night 2 for me: I'm very new to figuring magnitudes, but I'd swear it's brighter than Mirfak, though Mirfak is a touch closer to the moon and that may be influencing me.
It's even fuzzy with naked eye, now. In 9x finder, clearly fuzzy with two levels of brightness, obviously not a star. Despite my CSC, I'm not getting good views at 96x or 120x (which could be my equipment, not the seeing), but at 48x, the view is crisp. I'm seeing a tiny, tiny bright dot of light at what I think is the eastern side (I may have my directions confused), then the bright not-quite-round center not quite centered in the halo, then the halo. One of those instances where the eye sees what these great images posted here are showing. Fun.
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8" Orion classic dob
15x70 Celestron Skymaster
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Phillip Creed
Idiot Seeking Village
Reged: 07/25/06
Posts: 1033
Loc: NE Ohio
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I snuck another peek at the comet. This thing's changing at an breathtaking pace:
Morris Observation Format:
17P/Holmes Observation:
Oct 26.05 UT: m1 = 2.2, Dia = 3', DC = 8 ...NE...Phillip J. Creed (North Canton, OH) [With the naked-eye, it was just ever-so-slightly fuzzy, unlike last night where it looked distinctly stellar.
The view in 25x100s, though, was the show-stopper. Folks, I really, really don't know how to describe this! In 20+ years as a comet observers, it's not the most impressive comet I've seen, but it's certainly the most surreal.
The coma was about 3' in diameter. The yellow color that was so prominent last night also seems a bit muted. The color tonight was more of a cream color. The coma was noticeably-elongated in a N-S direction, with a pseudo-nucleus of ~20" in diameter noticeably displaced south of the coma's center. There was no diffusivity to the outer coma at all; it was a very sharp demarcation between background sky and coma. Think a bright planetary nebula on steroids, and you're close.
The coma itself was not uniform in brightness. There appeared to be a brighter patch lying E and W of the nucleus. There was a dimmer section, mostly in the northeastern quadrant (spanning about PA 345 through true north to PA 90) that was about 2/3 of the way out from the nucleus. It looked almost like the outer coma on the NE quadrant had partially "peeled" away, leaving an arc of "shadow" from PA 0 to 90.]
Folks, my words are just getting in the way. If you've got a scope you've GOT to see it!
Clear Skies to All, and Happy Comet Hunting,
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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JeffBrandenburg
newbie
Reged: 10/25/07
Posts: 2
Loc: Durham, NC, USA
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I hope someone, somewhere, got a spectrograph pointed at this thing during last night's "golden yellow" apparition. What would make a comet go that yellow? A dirty snowball with lots of highway salt?
I'd be out watching now, but our record-setting drought was finally broken, starting Wednesday morning, with the rain forecast to continue through Saturday morning. It never rains, then it pours...!
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Squinting under the streetlights of Durham, North Carolina
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