Astronomy · Obs Report · 23rd November 2007

Comet 17/P Holmes

After several nights of rain, drizzle, snow and clouds the skies finally cleared and I got another view of Comet Holmes, by now the largest object in the Solar System. It was much dimmer than when previously seen but still visible as a faint patch of light up and right of Mirfak (Alpha Persii). I did not take my binoculars out with me but instead trained the camera on it. It was very easy to pick up with only a 15s exposure and I experimented with a few settings to try and bring out as much detail as possible. The seeing was still not great, with some haze in the sky but I was still pleased with the results. The comet is incredible with an expansive out shell surrounding the brighter coma which has a distinctive jellyfish-head shape.