Naked Eye Comet 17/P Holmes (2007)

Teri Smoot

I'm imaging the comet from my observatory in New Mexico. Looks wierd there. I just went out and looked at it in my 10x50's as well. I agree with both the description and the magnitude estimate. Its bright, naked eye even with the moon. It is also a very funny looking comet. Very Jupiter like (with fuzzy edges and at least the same size) and very yellowish.

This may put on quite a show over the next few weeks/days. I'm taking one image every 5 minutes for two hours and we'll see what happens over that time (I'll animate the images).

Very little evidence of a tail in the images and none visible. (Some of the people imaging are getting a very slight tail -- no doubt its there but the moon is washing it out.) This thing is awfully far away as well. According to the ephemeris I have, its 1.6 au from earth and 2.4 au from the sun. No wonder the tail isn't very strong.

Teri Smoot

Observing Reports Observing Sites GSSP 2010, July 10 - 14
Frosty Acres Ranch
Adin, CA

OMG! Its full of stars.
Golden State Star Party
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