Location of Comet Holmes as seen looking north from Sydney at 11:30 pm AEDST (click image to enlarge)
Comet 17P Holmes is still visible to the unaided eye! This is over a month since it’s unexpected outburst! Now that the full Moon is out of the way and the comet is further from the bright star Mirfak, northern hemisphere observers are reporting it again. The comet has faded to be sure, but though dimmer it is still visible as a fuzzy dot in the northern hemisphere. Southern hemisphere observers have a harder time of it, as the comet is much closer to the horizon, and you have to look through lots of murk. Last time I looked in binoculars, I couldn’t see it here in Adelaide, but the comet here is only three finger widths above the horizon (and directly above bright harbour lights from where I am). People more north than I am with darker skies should have better luck, with Queensland and the Northern Territory the best of all.
A printable PDF map is here, the best time to see the comet is between 23:30 and 00:30 local daylight saving time. The comet is now to the west (left) of alpha Persii (Mirfak), and should be easy to locate in binoculars.
The latest images show the comets coma is now significantly distorted, and no longer circular. A nice image is here, another here, a good animation is here. Australian images can be seen at IceInSpace.
Labels: astrophotography, comets, Observational Astronomy
# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 7:52 pm
Location of Comet Holmes as seen looking north from 
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