{"id":370,"date":"2007-10-25T00:45:22","date_gmt":"2007-10-25T00:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/2007\/10\/25\/p17_holmes\/"},"modified":"2021-11-28T00:36:00","modified_gmt":"2021-11-28T00:36:00","slug":"p17_holmes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/2007\/10\/25\/p17_holmes\/","title":{"rendered":"17P \/ Holmes &#8211; OCT 24, 2007"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/archives\/images\/2007\/img2007102401_17PHolmeslg.jpg\" onmouseover=\"rollover('img2007102401')\" onmouseout=\"rollout('img2007102401')\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/archives\/images\/2007\/img2007102401_17PHolmesA.jpg\" name=\"img2007102401\" alt=\"Step 1\" border=\"1\" color=\"FFFFFF\"><\/a><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><br \/>\n<!--\nsetrollover(\"http:\/\/www.perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/archives\/images\/2007\/img2007102401_17PHolmesB.jpg\");\n\/\/--><br \/>\n<\/script><br \/>\n<i>Move mouse over sketch above to view labels. Click image for larger version.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Observation Notes:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Have you ever seen a golden comet? The thought had never occurred to me&#8211;until tonight.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier today, reports started arriving that observers in Asia had noted an extraordinary outburst in periodic comet 17P \/ Holmes. It had gone from 18th magnitude to 8th magnitude when it was first noticed. Within hours, it had became a naked-eye comet at 3rd magnitude and was still brightening. Observers were initially reporting a stellar object with a yellow or golden color. I was interested to have a look at a &#8216;stellar&#8217; comet and start tracking it&#8217;s motion through Perseus. What I got was so much better.<\/p>\n<p>After photographing an overhead pass of the International Space Station followed by the Space Shuttle&#8230;and a failed attempt to re-acquire C\/2007 F1 (LONEOS), I got ready to check out 17P \/ Holmes. It was easily visible to the naked eye despite the moonlit sky. Through my 6 inch Newtonian, it was shockingly beautiful. It was not stellar at all. It looked like a wonderfully bright planetary nebula&#8211;a <b>golden-yellow<\/b> planetary nebula! I bumped up the magnification to 120X and it looked even better. It begged for more, so I gave it 240X and settled in for a nice long look. There was a very strong, almost stellar central condensation. Outside of this was another bright condensed shell about 6 arc seconds in diameter, but elongated away from the center at a PA of about 210 degrees (southwest). Further outward was another shell that was roughly circular, about 1 arc minute in diameter, with a distinct outer boundary. Outside of this was a faint, hazy outer halo about 2 arc minutes in diameter that had a broad extension at a PA of about 120 degrees (east-southeast)&#8230;perhaps this is a developing dust tail? There was also a sharper extension that matched up with the direction of the inner condensation at 210 degrees and extended about 4 arc minutes&#8230;maybe a developing ion tail?<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m getting ready to go back outside and make some follow-up observations, sketches, and hopefully a couple photographs. I had no idea I&#8217;d get to witness something like this less than a year after the unique display put on by C\/2006 P1 (McNaught). My daughter even got in on the observing and made her own sketch of the comet through our new 8 inch Dob while I worked on it through my trusty 6 inch scope. More to come!<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h3>Update October 25, 2007 &#8211; 4:00 AM<\/h3>\n<p>After posting this report, I went back out and shot some photos of the area. Below is a stack of 5 2-minute exposures. Move your mouse over the image to see labels and click the image for a larger version. The golden color of the comet is apparent in the image &#8212; to which I applied no color enhancement, only contrast, dark subtraction and sharpening.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/archives\/images\/2007\/img2007102501_17PHolmeslgA.jpg\" onmouseover=\"rollover('img2007102501')\" onmouseout=\"rollout('img2007102501')\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/archives\/images\/2007\/img2007102501_17PHolmesA.jpg\" name=\"img2007102501\" alt=\"Step 1\" border=\"1\" color=\"FFFFFF\"><\/a><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><br \/>\n<!--\nsetrollover(\"http:\/\/www.perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/archives\/images\/2007\/img2007102501_17PHolmesB.jpg\");\n\/\/--><br \/>\n<\/script><br \/>\n<i>Move mouse over sketch above to view labels. Click image for larger version.<\/i><\/p>\n<table color=\"ffffff\" width=\"470\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"4\" style=\"line-height: 150%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Subject<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b style=\"color: white\">17P \/ Holmes<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Classification<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">Comet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Position*<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">2:35 UT &#8211; Perseus: [RA: 03:52:53.1 \/ Dec: +50:08:38]<br \/>\n4:05 UT &#8211; Perseus: [RA: 03:52:49.8 \/ Dec: +50:08:56]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Size<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">Central condensation: 6 arc seconds<br \/>\nComa: 60 arc seconds \/ 1 arc minute<br \/>\nOuter halo: 130 arc seconds \/ 2.2 arc minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Brightness*<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">~ 2.5 vMag<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Date\/Time<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">October 24, 2007, 7:35 &#8211; 9:05 PM<br \/>\n(October 25, 2007, 02:35 &#8211; 04:05 UT)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Observing Loc.<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">Flagstaff, AZ &#8211; Home<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Instrument<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">SkyView Pro 6LT EQ (150 mm dia.\/1200 mm F\/L)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Eyepieces\/Mag.<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">32 mm Sirius Pl\u00c3\u00b6ssl (37.5X)<br \/>\n10 mm Sirius Pl\u00c3\u00b6ssl + 2X Barlow (240X)<br \/>\n12 mm Meade Astrometric + 2X Barlow (~200X)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Conditions<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">Clear, calm, nearly full moon<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Seeing<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">4\/10 Pickering<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>Transparency<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\">~ Mag 4.5 NELM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><b>*Sources<\/b><\/td>\n<td bgcolor=\"#3f4d6d\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aerith.net\/comet\/catalog\/0017P\/2007.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Aerith.net<\/a>; Starry Night Pro Plus 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>*Based on published data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>17P\/Holmes 20071024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,45,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comet","category-sg-comet","category-sketch-gallery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":372,"url":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/2007\/10\/26\/17p_holmes_oct\/","url_meta":{"origin":370,"position":0},"title":"17P \/ Holmes &#8211; OCT 26, 2007","author":"jperez1690","date":"October 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"17P\/Holmes 20071025","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Comet&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Comet","link":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/category\/comet\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":388,"url":"https:\/\/perezmedia.net\/beltofvenus\/2007\/12\/06\/17p_holmes_dec\/","url_meta":{"origin":370,"position":1},"title":"17P \/ Holmes &#8211; 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