From the backyard

Pete Santangeli

I was actually in the process of unloading my van from my aborted Sunday night trip when I looked up at the sky and thought "what the heck". I set up my 16" dob on my back deck - something I haven't done since I first built and tested it due to the fairly appalling conditions I have.

For some reason I was expecting something much smaller. It's truly a remarkable comet though. Very sharply defined at the "lead" side, and much fuzzier on the back. Very distinct non-centered core.

I found it was a great object to show my kids. Nice and bright in the eyepiece (sort of like M42), so it's easy to see. They've all heard about comets and somehow know they are sort of special, so it was quite a thrill for them.

The view was so good I decided I just had to image it. It was dark, but I was able to quickly set up my ED80/AP900 combo with a separate guide scope so I could guide on the comet. Interestingly I found that I could not guide on the bright core - only on the "centroid" of the comets dust. Unexpected.

Anyways, here is the result (after the considerable image processing comets take). I really haven't checked out anyone elses work so I'm not actually sure how good it is. I like it though:

http://www.santangeli.net/holmes.jpg

Enjoy!

Pete