Posted on 11/16/2007 9:39:36 AM PST by NYer
Global Warming is melting this poor comet. If only BUSH had signed Kyoto!
I’d rather die instantly, than know I’m going to die over a short period of time, which will probably also be painful, like lava or the atmosphere evaporating.
Easily visible in binoculars from a not-dark-enough site (a back yard in a small city). And I didn’t take enough time for good dark adaptation. Holmes is not as bright as Hale-Bopp or Hyukatake but still spectacular.
I love looking into the night sky and watching the stars, trying to look for formations.
What I DON’T like, is thinking about a massive solar flare, gamma burst, or meteor plowing into Earth.
Anything named “Holmes” is bigger than average...
So, is it time to re-read “Lucifer’s Hammer?”
Huh?
When is the best time to view and in what part of the sky is it located? Laymens terms please.
Timelapse photo from Tom Ruen's Blog, click the pic if you want to know more
I was just looking for that at the used book store last night. They didn't have it :(. Wish someone would movie-ize it but would probably ruin it.
I've seen it pretty much every clear night. Both through binocuars, my 14" telescope and some pictures my astronomy buddies are taking.
One thing I'm learning about comets is that they all have their special "personalities."
Holmes is basically round and about the size of the Moon/Sun in angular diameter. About 1/2 degree across. Not much tail at all.
Hale-Bopp had that awesome split tail, and had visible spiral patterns when viewed at high power through my telescope, caused by large jets of gas on a spinning body. It reminded me of M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy). Hale-Bopp is the only large comet I've seen where it was just as interesting through the telescope as it was naked eye or through binoculars.
Hyakutake had a tail that spanned about 75 or 80 degrees across the sky. I pulled an all-nighter on a work night to drive up to Mt. Pinos, getting there at about 3:00am and staying until 4:20am. That was on whichever night it was projected to be the best view. There was a sheet of ice on everything, and it was bitter cold, but I got to see a comet tail that spanned nearly half of the sky. The nucleus was near Polaris and the end of the tail was near the celestial equator. A good description for my astronomically inclined FRiends would be that Hyakutake looked similar to how the Veil Nebula looks through a BIG scope with an O-3 filter on a 31mm Nagler eyepiece.
Truly something I'll never forget. Though I don't remember much about working the next day. :)
That help?
Here in Boise, ID even with city lights you can see it naked eye.
Go to skyandtelescope.com ‘s section on ‘observing highlights’ and look for the article “Comet Holmes Continues to dazzle”.
(Comet Holmes now in the constellation of Perseus in the northeastern sky.)
Article contains a starmap and within the text of the article are links to a ‘wide-field finder chart’ which should help you locate it.
Knowing where it is, I can see it dimly with naked eyes, but in even an 8x40 binocular, it is a great sight.
This might actually be true. We have known about this short-period comet since the 1880s. Why did it choose now to explode? Could it be that the sun is warming it more than usual right now, just like those diminishing polar caps on Mars?
.
I have.
Excellant book.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.