Comet 17/P Holmes

As I'd hoped, the SE PA skies were clear, cool, and reasonably still last night, so I bundled up to look at Comet 17P/Holmes and try some piggyback astrophotography.

First things first: The comet was everything folks are saying, and better than I expected. If you've not yet seen it, don't expect the classic image of Haley, with a massive, bright tail shooting sparks to the horizon. This is a traditionally dim comet, and its curious brightening is part of the din of current interest. The comet is also on the opposite side of the sun from Earth, so the tail is actually extending away from us, as if we were looking down the barrel of a baseball bat.

That said, it's easily visible to the naked eye in Perseus (finder map here; at 9 PM or so the comet should be 50 degrees or above the Northeast horizon -- if you were to hold your arm out with your hand in a fist, that's about five fists up), and should be impressive for nearly anyone in binoculars. For Kate and I both the reaction when taking our first look through the eyepiece of the telescope (the 32mm) was "Oh my!" The comet was much larger in the field of view than I expected, taking up about as much space in the telescope as does Moon (although to the naked eye, it looks like a bright, fuzzy star).

Here are two images from a photo I took last night (Digital Rebel XTi, EFS 18-55mm kit lens at 54mm, f/5.6 for 2 minutes). The first is the full photo, the second is a cropped blowup of the comet proper. Click both to embiggen.

Not bad for my first try, I think! Now I have to order the T-ring adapter so I can hook the camera right up to the telescope ...

Comments

[DingusKeebler]

Yo Alan! Well, I'm pretty jealous now. I've been wanting a similar scope for quite some time. Star gazing in the NW generally isn't too good - especially this time of year. When we move to ABQ I'm planning on getting a nice telescope and probably hooking up with these gents: http://www.taas.org.