Astroblog: Comets 8P Tuttle and 17P Holmes

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Comets 8P Tuttle and 17P Holmes

Comet 17P Holmes really is the energizer bunny of the comet world. In the northern hemisphere people can still see it with the unaided eye under dark skies, and can pick it up easily with binoculars.

The comet is much higher in the northern sky than it was a while ago, and people in the northern half of Australia with dark skies should see it with binoculars. However, here in Adelaide even the arkly sparkly 10x50 binoculars my beloved family got me for Christmas can't make it out. 17P is currently close to beta Persii (Algol), and should be easy to pick up under dark skies (see the chart for location, it's set for 10:00 pm local time, facing north, for a printable chart, click here).

Also in the sky, and much easier to see in binoculars, is 8P Tuttle, it is at the threshold of visibility to the unaided eye under dark skies. Here in suburban Adelaide I picked it up in my shiny new binoculars with no hassle at all. It's sort of a fuzzy blob to me, a bit like a globular cluster. It's almost due west (it looks a bit weird in the chart above as it is centred on north, but it gives you an idea of where it is near the stars. It may be more difficult in the coming days as the comet fades and the Moon waxes, but it's a nice way to start the year with a comet and Mars.

Labels: comets, Observational Astronomy