Obscure Comet Brightens Suddenly

Originally posted by ZeroGhost
Also depending on the distance to the sun a comet will not produce a tail until close enough. Holmes might produce a tail as time goes on.
ZG

ZG --
I read somewhere that this comet is actually on it's way AWAY from the Sun right now. Its closest approach was back in May, 6 months ago. It may have had a tail then, but it is now too far from the sun to have one.

and Centurion1211 --

The infrared plume may not be a tail at all, hence the fact that it is not pointing away from the Sun, like a tail is supposed to.

[edit on 10/29/2007 by Soylent Green Is People]

It is quite a sight to see, i just saw it a couple of hours ago, thru an 8-in telescope, it just looked like a giant fuzzball.

My Prof said that it was due to part of the Comet collapseing in.

He said it was like swiss cheese, wil parts of the comet haveing air bubbles in it, and on of the air bubles colapesed, thus exposing new surface area to the comet.

Looks very nice.

Well, I was looking at the comet in my observatory last night. I think it is one of those objects best viewed with binoculars or at powers of 40x or so in a telescope. I was able to see the bright nucleus, the bright surrounding coma and a darker elongation which looks like the formation of a tail. But I could be wrong about that.

I have looked and looked and for some reason I can not seem to spot this? I have tried following the star charts but still I'm missing it. Could I be looking at it and not even knowing?? I have seen comets with the naked eye before so I know what to look for however everything I can see just looks like stars

reply to post by undiscoveredsoul

In case you missed it, I replied to you earlier in this post with a star map.

If that didn't help, try this.

1) Facing due North, start looking straight up and look for a constellation in the shape of a W. That is Cassiopeia.

2) Turn slightly to the right to face North-East, and start looking down. The brightest star you should see first should be Mirfak. That is a star in the Perseus Constellation and has a cluster of other stars around it.

3) Look for a triangle with Mirfak being the top star.

4) If you see the triangle, the lower left object is the comet.

Hope that helps.

edit: When looking down from Cassiopeia, if you go too far you will see the bright star Capella which is rising now. Mirfak is between Cassiopeia and Capella.



[edit on 10/30/2007 by Hal9000]

reply to post by Hal9000



Well.. yes it did help kind of so thanks a million Hal!

I followed your directions but... it doesn't look like any comet I have seen, it's just like a fuzzy star and doesn't seen as bright as the pics. Ah well... I was hoping for something like hale-bop!! that was an amazing site!

reply to post by undiscoveredsoul

No problem mate. No it is not the classic comet shape with a long tail like Hale/Bop. It probably does have a tail now, but it is pointed away from us so we can't see it. What's special about this comet is that no other comet has ever become a million times brighter like this one has. At least not in recent history.

reply to post by Hal9000



Thankyou for taking the time to share this step-by-step instruction.
Unfortunately for me, the position is directly over Chicago and all
I can see is the usual bright orange glow of the city lights..
Thanks again though. It's posters like you HAL9000 that
make ATS worth visiting on a regular basis!

A big what if here,

If the Earth was determined to be in the path of a comet, what would we do?? We would try something to avoid a collision like shooting it with missles and destroying it or at least deflecting it away right?

So what if this comet strayed a bit too close to an outpost or craft beloning to other world beings and they took similar counter measures (ie, blew it up) to avoid a collision???

Probably the least likley reason for this comets bust up so, just another theory.

FATMAN

Originally posted by fatman
If the Earth was determined to be in the path of a comet, what would we do?? We would try something to avoid a collision like shooting it with missles and destroying it or at least deflecting it away right?

There is, as far as I know, absolutely nothing we could do about it at this point in our development as a technological species. The same goes for dinosaur-killer-type meteorite strikes.

Fortunately in this instance, we don't have to worry. 17P/Holmes is moving away from the sun and from us. The tail is pointing outwards too, because that is how the solar wind affects the tail of a comet. Despite my earlier tongue-in-cheek post, a comet tail is not a rocket exhaust.

reply to post by carewemust

If you still want to see it, I would recommend looking up a local Astronomy Club and see if they are holding a star party in a better location. You may have to drive a bit to get there, but the members will probably have good equipment to view it with. Our club is holding special star parties this week and the members really enjoy showing things like this to the public.

Latest image from SLOOH.com...





I think we have tailage.

[edit on 31-10-2007 by IAttackPeople]

Were you on Slooh when this was taken? Which channel was it taken on? I was just there and took these in the member channel. It is over saturated and doesn't look anything like your image.

Widefield


High Mag


I'm hoping they can make the needed adjustments to get better images.


edit: OK, this one is looking closer, but still overexposed.



[edit on 10/31/2007 by Hal9000]

[edit on 10/31/2007 by Hal9000]

Pic taken on 31 Oct 07 at 22:22:12 UTC.

This was on the Member Channel High Mag. They say they had the cluster filter on.

Thanks for mentioning SLOOH. It's a neat site. What's your chat name? I am GregG.

reply to post by Hal9000


Im going to look again tonight my friend and I are drivingout into the country away from everything to look for it cause she wants to see it too. We are leaving here about 11:30

We are taking a camera with a zoom but its a digital camera... will that work or do you all use special expensive cams?

[edit on 10/31/2007 by undiscoveredsoul]

Edited to add... I just noticed in almost all the pics posted it looks so ROUND like PERFECTLY round... is that normal????

[edit on 10/31/2007 by undiscoveredsoul]

IAttackPeople, I sent you a U2U. Yeah, Slooh is a great site.


reply to post by undiscoveredsoul

If you are going to use a regular camera use a tripod and go for about a 30 second exposure. You can get good pictures with a camera, but I use a telescope that tracks the stars and a CCD camera with software that aligns and stacks several images. You can't do that with a camera.

Well hope you can get a good shot.

Update from Spaceweather...

Actually, the comet is even bigger than it looks. While the Moon is a mere 240 thousand miles away, Comet Holmes is 150 million miles from Earth. The comet's physical diameter is thus seven times wider than the planet Jupiter--and it is still expanding.

Anyone with a backyard telescope can watch it grow. After sunset, point your 'scope at the 3rd-magnitude fuzzball in the constellation Perseus: sky map. Finding the comet is no problem. The only question is, will it fit in the eyepiece?

Maybe its Nibiru



spaceweather.com... November 1 2007

[edit on 1-11-2007 by zorgon]
Mod Edit: New Forum Image Linking Policy – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 15-11-2007 by Jbird]

Those SpaceWeather photos from everyone are awesome.

I also like this one that shows how it continues to grow.

Taken by:

Teri Smoot,
New Mexico Skies, Mayhill NM
Oct. 30, 2007



From:
SpaceWeather Comet Holmes Gallery Page 7

reply to post by Hal9000


Hal...I wish WATS was still around, cos I would give you one without hesitation

Your efforts on this thread as far as showing us how to take a peek at this amazing object have been first class and not once have your responded to a question with a jargon filled answer, only easy to understand stuff for the general membership...

Well done, Sir...I Salut thee


Peace

reply to post by zorgon


Huh.. the comet is 7 times bigger than Jupiter?!!! Sureley not.. I have been seriously misled about the size of comets if that is the case! I hope I am misunderstanding what that is saying..

If it is what it sounds like.. what makes a comet bigger than the biggest planet in our solar system not a planet? Im totally confused about this