12 December 2007

Comet 17P/Holmes (12 Dec. 2007 UT)

Date: 12 December 2007
Time: 2:05 U.T.
Instrumentation: 20x80 Binoculars
Seeing: Good
NELM: 6.5 or better
Temperature: +21 F (-6 C)


The above sketch shows the full, three degree field of the 20x80 binoculars. North is up. West is to the right. Not all of the field stars that were seen were recorded in the sketch.

Comet Holmes is now clearly larger in apparent size than a full moon. (The apparent diameter of a full moon is about 0.5 degrees, or one-sixth of the binocular field.) As I was observing this comet I was reminded of the general appearance of a fossilized trilobite.

Comet Holmes remains easily visible to the unaided eye. It appeared to be clearly brighter than the nearby Perseus Double Star Cluster.

2 comments:

Martin Lewicki said...

My McNaught Images that include inverse pencil sketches.

http://picasaweb.google.com/martin.lewicki/McNaught?pli=1

Martin Lewicki

Anonymous said...

It is a Joy to share the Wonder and Awe of Nature - Thank You for Sharing Your Beautiful Work