Comet Holmes

[MeteorWayne]

It's about time, thanks! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

I agree totally 100%.<br /><br />It has taken a long time for the HST to be pressed into action.<br /><br />you are correct, we have only seen those four cometary nuclei in close up.<br /><br />Hopefully on Monday 8th December 2008, we can add, Comet 85/P Boethin & then in 2014, <br />Comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

I won't hold my breath till then though <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />As has been our human history over the last decade or so, we learn more every day. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[adrenalynn]

8P/Tuttle should be visible in a good-sized scope right now from the northern hemisphere. According to observers( http://www.aerith.net/comet/weekly/current.html ) it's about a mag 11.2 right now. Since I'm photographing stars as dim as 14.64 from the home observatory under poor conditions, I'm hoping to be able to image it shortly. (Holmes has been a bit of a distraction). Predictions are a Mag 6 in January, which would put it naked-eye in dark skies. <br /><br />46P/Wirtanen may be worthwhile. Currently mag 12.7, brightening to mag 8.5 (binocular object) from Jan. to March.<br /><br />93P/Lovas 1 is visible from a decent scope, and allegedly has a nice tail. mag 13.5<br /><br />P/2007 H1 McNaught is mag 13ish.<br /><br />Holmes has been distracting. I hope to chase these more challenging comets down sometime soon. I'm just a Comet Paparazzi <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>.</p><p><font size="3">bipartisan</font>  (<span style="color:blue" class="pointer"><span class="pron"><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode" size="2">bī-pär'tĭ-zən, -sən</font></span></span>) [Adj.]  Maintaining the ability to blame republications when your stimulus plan proves to be a devastating failure.</p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000"><font color="#ff0000">IMPE</font><font color="#c0c0c0">ACH</font> <font color="#0000ff"><font color="#c0c0c0">O</font>BAMA</font>!</font></strong></p> </div>

 

[3488]

Thanks Adrenalynn,<br /><br />Yes I had heard that 8/P Tuttle should be a good one.<br /><br />Hopefully it does brighten up as expected. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br />46/P Wirtanen of course was the original target for the ESA Rosetta spacecraft. The launch<br />was delayed when a previous Ariane 5 blew up, shortly after launch, so 46/P Wirtanen<br />was no longer a possibility. Of course we lost the encounter with the large main belt <br />asteroid 140 Siwa. However we now get 21 Lutetia instead, not as large as 140 Siwa, <br />but is a rare type M & the second largest known type M (only 16 Psyche is larger).<br /><br />I like both comets & asteroids. My pet objects though are volcanic worlds, not too <br />obvious is it, with my rantings on the other threads??<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

That Tuttle was quite a comet hound, eh?<br /><br />If he existed, or course <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[adrenalynn]

Thanks for the insights, Andrew! I don't follow the missions that closely, I'm afraid.<br /><br />Comet hunting is a favorite passtime of mine, but very time consuming. I need some equipment upgrades to get really competitive, I'm afraid. They're budgeted, though...<br /><br />Tuttle yes, but look at Robert McNaught hammerin' the present skies. Man has he been prolific! Eleven, plus eleven more periodics, plus eleven more co-discovers. (eleven's a good number for him, he should just stop and leave some for the rest of us!)<br /><br />He's even had an asteroid named after him... (After discovering and plotting 410 of them!!!)<br /><br />[Note: I take it back, make that 12, 11, 11, 410]<br /><br />An easy man to despise. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>.</p><p><font size="3">bipartisan</font>  (<span style="color:blue" class="pointer"><span class="pron"><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode" size="2">bī-pär'tĭ-zən, -sən</font></span></span>) [Adj.]  Maintaining the ability to blame republications when your stimulus plan proves to be a devastating failure.</p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000"><font color="#ff0000">IMPE</font><font color="#c0c0c0">ACH</font> <font color="#0000ff"><font color="#c0c0c0">O</font>BAMA</font>!</font></strong></p> </div>

 

[adrenalynn]

Tuttle should be "easy", staying around Polaris most of the night for the next little bit for me.<br /><br />H1 McNaught is just above the light-muck and should be doable.<br /><br />Wirtanen stays buried in the muck not getting above about 23deg for me. All early evening stuff. I may have to head for darker skies (once the cloud cover breaks) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>.</p><p><font size="3">bipartisan</font>  (<span style="color:blue" class="pointer"><span class="pron"><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode" size="2">bī-pär'tĭ-zən, -sən</font></span></span>) [Adj.]  Maintaining the ability to blame republications when your stimulus plan proves to be a devastating failure.</p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000"><font color="#ff0000">IMPE</font><font color="#c0c0c0">ACH</font> <font color="#0000ff"><font color="#c0c0c0">O</font>BAMA</font>!</font></strong></p> </div>

 

[Mee_n_Mac]

Great stuff indeed ! Thx for the link. From it ;<br /><br /><i>"Hubble first observed Comet 17P/Holmes on June 15, 1999, when there was virtually no dusty shroud around the nucleus. Although Hubble cannot resolve the nucleus, astronomers inferred its size by measuring its brightness. Astronomers deduced that the nucleus' diameter was approximately 2.1 miles (3.4 kilometers), about the length of New York City's Central Park. They hope to use the new Hubble images to determine the size of the comet's nucleus to see how much of it was blasted away during the outburst.<br /><br />Hubble's two earlier snapshots of Comet Holmes also showed some interesting features. On Oct. 29, the telescope spied three "spurs" of dust emanating from the nucleus, while the Hubble images taken on Oct. 31 revealed an outburst of dust just west of the nucleus.<br /><br />The Hubble images, however, do not show any large fragments near the nucleus of Comet Holmes, unlike the case of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (SW3). In the spring of 2006 Hubble observations revealed a multitude of "mini-comets" ejected by SW3 after the comet increased dramatically in brightness.<br /><br />Ground-based images of Comet Holmes show a large, spherically symmetrical cloud of dust that is offset from the nucleus, suggesting that a large fragment broke off and subsequently disintegrated into tiny dust particles after moving away from the main nucleus."</i><br /><br /><br />So that starts to answer some of my earlier questions but I'm curious ... why would a fragment broken off, as suggested above, then disintegrate into tiny dust particles ? I guess the newly exposed insides could boil off and the remaining portion of the fragment (?shell?) just could be unobserved.<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>-----------------------------------------------------</p><p><font color="#ff0000">Ask not what your Forum Software can do do on you,</font></p><p><font color="#ff0000">Ask it to, please for the love of all that's Holy, <strong>STOP</strong> !</font></p> </div>

 

[aaron38]

I saw the article that Holmes is now as big as the sun, and went out to look again.<br />It's absolutely huge. Very dim now, but a huge fuzzy blue ball.<br /><br />It looks to be a little less than half the size of the moon.

 

[alokmohan]

Many comets brighten as they near the sun. Heat vaporizes volatile ices on a comet's surface, throwing out fine, highly reflective dust particles in the process. But Holmes, which has a 6.88-year orbit, never gets any closer to the sun than twice Earth's distance. Even more puzzling, the brightening took place about 5 months after the comet's closest approach. <br /><br />The rapid brightening suggests that a layer of material lifted off the comet and disintegrated, says Zdenek Sekanina of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The resulting dusty halo may be "microscopic dust grains originating from the cataclysmic breakup of the jettisoned layer," he notes in the Nov. 3 circular of the International Astronomical Union. <br /><br />The entire nucleus of the comet may consist of many such fragile, stacked layers, cemented by ice, Sekanina speculates. In support of his model, he cites observations by ground-based telescopes of parallel streaks of material at some distance from the comet's nucleus. The streaks could be dust trails left behind by a disintegrating layer, he suggests. <br /><br />The 5-month delay between the comet's closest approach and the outburst may represent the time required for the outer layer to soak up solar heat and transmit it to an underlying region of ice, Sekanina says. Only when the ice explosively vaporizes does the outer layer fly off. <br /><br />An English astronomer discovered the comet in the fall of 1892, when it had undergone a similar sudden brightening about 5 months after its closest approach to the sun. About 2.5 months later, in January 1893, Holmes had an additional outburst. It then remained quiet until recently. For decades, the comet was so faint that astronomers lost track of it between 1906 and 1964. <br /><br />Could the newly brightened Holmes, now fading, get a second wind this January, as it did 114 years ago? <br /><br />Brian Marsden of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., thinks

 

[R1]

what in the world do we look like from the outside ?!<br /><br />I wonder if other probes, like the european martian, or new horizons , or one of the fleet out there<br />could get a good picture of the Sun and the giant Holmes!<br /><br />Are they trying to obtain one?<br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[3488]

Hi John1R<br /><br />Like it, a fantastic idea. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br />I think there would be problems regarding contrast. <br /><br />A lovely idea though. I hoped that HiRISE on the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter would <br />have looked. At least we have good views from the HST & our own Adrenalynn has taken some<br />incredible images.<br /><br />A compostite would be possible, an extrememly short exposure of the sun, with a long <br />exposure of Holmes in situ, then combine. That would be doable.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Nice Comet Holmes APOD <br /><br />In fact, it just became my new desktop <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

Thanks MeteorWayne,<br /><br />That is truly stunning. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br />That is a nice area in the South of France, decent weather for much of the time, & quite a few<br />degrees furthur south than my location, another big plus. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br />Breil-sur-Roya, is close to the Cote D Azur, in the far south of France, near <br />Monaco & the border with Italy.<br /><br />Good place for Astronomy.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[ihwip]

I saw Holmes on Thursday. This is only the 2nd comet I've seen in my short lifetime. Yay! What star is it near? Alpha Perseus? I can't remember. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see it through the weekend because the cloud cover has been iffy. I actually spotted it w/8x22 binoculars under mild light pollution. I couldn't find it with my telescope but if the clouds go away I might get lucky tonight.<br /><br />On numbers, my daughter's 6mo B-day is today and the comet is supposed to eat Alpha Perseus tonight or something. I am hoping to get some pictures.

 

[3488]

Part of the Coma will pass in front of Mirfak / Alpha Persei, today.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

sigh....<br /><br />Today...Rain and snow this morning...tapering to sprinkles this afternoon. Snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches...mainly in the northern part of the county and in the higher elevations. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.<br /><br />Tonight...Mostly cloudy. A chance of rain after midnight. Lows in the upper 30s. Light and variable winds. Chance of rain 30 percent.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[usn_skwerl]

Ditto. Crappy. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[3488]

Crappy here too. Cloudy now, with rain moving in again later <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /> .<br /><br />Shame really, I can understand yours & MeteorWayne's frustration. I too would have liked to see it.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[adrenalynn]

I'll photograph it tonight, I'm sure. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>.</p><p><font size="3">bipartisan</font>  (<span style="color:blue" class="pointer"><span class="pron"><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode" size="2">bī-pär'tĭ-zən, -sən</font></span></span>) [Adj.]  Maintaining the ability to blame republications when your stimulus plan proves to be a devastating failure.</p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000"><font color="#ff0000">IMPE</font><font color="#c0c0c0">ACH</font> <font color="#0000ff"><font color="#c0c0c0">O</font>BAMA</font>!</font></strong></p> </div>

 

[3488]

If you would please Adrenalynn, we would be very grateful.<br /><br />Weather is really conspiring against us here. Not often we get to see a comet pass in <br />front of a very bright star like Mirfak.<br /><br />Thank you very much Adrenalynn.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[adrenalynn]

My pleasure. I really need to take photographs of an event like that anyway.<br /><br />Then there's three other comets I should be able to image right at the edge of my capabilities at home.<br /><br />Then there's that "new sun" (the latest star discovered with the same characteristics as our sun)<br /><br />I'm starting to backlog on my observing list... <img src="/images/icons/blush.gif" /><br /><br />Clear Sky Clock has us cloudy but clearing at 7pm PST. Weather.com has us clear at 6pm, and fine for the next several days. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>.</p><p><font size="3">bipartisan</font>  (<span style="color:blue" class="pointer"><span class="pron"><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode" size="2">bī-pär'tĭ-zən, -sən</font></span></span>) [Adj.]  Maintaining the ability to blame republications when your stimulus plan proves to be a devastating failure.</p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000"><font color="#ff0000">IMPE</font><font color="#c0c0c0">ACH</font> <font color="#0000ff"><font color="#c0c0c0">O</font>BAMA</font>!</font></strong></p> </div>

 

[adrenalynn]

Yup! Same one (near enough) it was on 7 years ago, give or take.<br /><br />What do you want to know about its orbit? If you need the elements, I can post 'em or you can get 'em off of JPL. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>.</p><p><font size="3">bipartisan</font>  (<span style="color:blue" class="pointer"><span class="pron"><font face="Lucida Sans Unicode" size="2">bī-pär'tĭ-zən, -sən</font></span></span>) [Adj.]  Maintaining the ability to blame republications when your stimulus plan proves to be a devastating failure.</p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000"><font color="#ff0000">IMPE</font><font color="#c0c0c0">ACH</font> <font color="#0000ff"><font color="#c0c0c0">O</font>BAMA</font>!</font></strong></p> </div>

 

[3488]

Orbital Elements here.<br /><br />JPL orbit visualization.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>