Jay:Dee
Comet Holmes (17/Holmes) - 2007 Outburst
From the archives...
Comet 17P/Holmes (a.k.a. Comet Holmes) photographed on October 30th, 2007, during its unexpected brightening. This comet, discovered in 1892, is a frequent visitor with an orbital period of about 6.9 years. Its passage by the sun is typically unspectacular and it can't usually be seen with the naked eye. In 2007, it surprised astronomers by suddenly and dramatically brightening... I remember seeing it easily from downtown Burlington while standing near a streetlamp. It's coma (the cloud seen around the nucleus) grew to an apparent diameter half that of the Moon. I took this photograph afocally by handhaolding my Canon A95 up to the eyepiece of my Meade ETX-90 telescope. The nucleus can be seen clearly in the coma; the two bright points are background stars in the constellation Perseus. Holmes will pass by again in March 2014... what will it do during that visit?
I shall have to practice to take better photos of two noteworthy comets passing by this year. Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) will be visible from the Northern Hemisphere in a couple of weeks from now (mid-March 2013) and is promising to put on a good display; it is expected to be visible with the naked eye. Later, in December 2013, Comet C/2012/S1 (ISON) might be visible during the daytime as it passes very close to the sun. Be warned though, comets are unpredictable; some fall well short of expectations, whereas others, like Holmes, turn into pleasant surprises. A huge surprise may follow in 2014 when Comet 2013 A1 might, maybe, possibly impact Mars; the comet was discovered only recently and astronomers are still making measurements of its orbit to calculate precisely how close it will pass by Mars... it will be a close call as a minimum! Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 did impact Jupiter in 1994 and, more recently, an impact event on Jupiter was observed in 2010.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Holmes
Comet Holmes (17/Holmes) - 2007 Outburst
From the archives...
Comet 17P/Holmes (a.k.a. Comet Holmes) photographed on October 30th, 2007, during its unexpected brightening. This comet, discovered in 1892, is a frequent visitor with an orbital period of about 6.9 years. Its passage by the sun is typically unspectacular and it can't usually be seen with the naked eye. In 2007, it surprised astronomers by suddenly and dramatically brightening... I remember seeing it easily from downtown Burlington while standing near a streetlamp. It's coma (the cloud seen around the nucleus) grew to an apparent diameter half that of the Moon. I took this photograph afocally by handhaolding my Canon A95 up to the eyepiece of my Meade ETX-90 telescope. The nucleus can be seen clearly in the coma; the two bright points are background stars in the constellation Perseus. Holmes will pass by again in March 2014... what will it do during that visit?
I shall have to practice to take better photos of two noteworthy comets passing by this year. Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) will be visible from the Northern Hemisphere in a couple of weeks from now (mid-March 2013) and is promising to put on a good display; it is expected to be visible with the naked eye. Later, in December 2013, Comet C/2012/S1 (ISON) might be visible during the daytime as it passes very close to the sun. Be warned though, comets are unpredictable; some fall well short of expectations, whereas others, like Holmes, turn into pleasant surprises. A huge surprise may follow in 2014 when Comet 2013 A1 might, maybe, possibly impact Mars; the comet was discovered only recently and astronomers are still making measurements of its orbit to calculate precisely how close it will pass by Mars... it will be a close call as a minimum! Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 did impact Jupiter in 1994 and, more recently, an impact event on Jupiter was observed in 2010.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Holmes