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  Summary: Comet 17P/Holmes shocked astronomers on Oct. 24, 2007, with a spectacular eruption. In less than 24 hours, the 17th magnitude comet brightened by a factor of nearly a million, becoming a naked-eye object in the evening sky. By mid-November the expanding comet was the largest object in the solar system--bigger even than the Sun. Since then, the comet has faded back to invisibility. A leading model of the blast posits a deep cavern of ice changing phase, from amorphous to crystalline, releasing in transition enough heat to cause Holmes to blow its top. The comet probably contains many such caverns so, one day, it could happen again. [ephemeris] [3D orbit]
 
  Photographer, Location Images Comments


Helmut Groell,
Moers, Germany
Oct. 30, 2007
#1, more

Now I have an animated GIF-File of Holmes with our moon to compare it in size.


Frank Freestar8n,
Hudson Valley, NY, USA
Oct. 31, 2007
#1, more

This tail is pretty faint, but it shows clearly here. I started imaging this comet a few days ago with my c11 at f/10. Then f/4.5. Now I'm using Hyperstar at f/1.8 and the field still isn't big enough. This is from 75 1-minute shots with c11 at f/1.8 using SXVF-H9c camera. Processed in ImagesPlus, with some adaptive LR to enhance - but the tail is directly visible in the stack. UT 20071031 04:00


Martin Mc Kenna,
Maghera, Co.Derry, N. Ireland
Oct. 29, 2007
#1, #2, more

Hi Tony Here are a few recent images of Holmes with a firework which suddenly appeared in the same shot which I thought has a nice Halloween theme. Also a few others of the comet taken from the countryside. Fujifilm S5600 5.1MP at ISP800 15 sec/


Chris Cook,
Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Oct. 29, 2007
#1, more

This is an animation of Comet Holmes over two nights. It shows the expansion of the gas/dust shell. Both images were taken with a SV80S apo refractor and SBIG ST-8E CCD camera.


Mikkel Steine,
Blaker, Norway
Oct. 30, 2007
#1, #2, more

I tried for the comets tail and was successful. What a wonderful and strange comet. Spectacular. Outer shell (the faintest level) is easily visible in my 14x100 binoculars.


Mohammad Javad Fahimi,
Kerman,Iran
Oct. 27, 2007
#1

Canon EOS 400D,800 ISO,5S Exposure


Andrew Cooper,
Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA
Oct. 30, 2007
#1, more

Watching the coma expand night after night has been fascinating. Sequence of four frames taken each night with a Canon 20Da and 90mm APO. Each frame a stack of 25 10sec exposures processed identically.


Jean-Christophe Dalouzy,
Caen, Normandy, France
Oct. 30, 2007
#1, #2,

I took his picture last night near Caen, France. I use a FSQ 106 with 350 Baader. Exposure was 11 x 30 seconds at 800 ISO. It is a very nice comet !


Pieter Ibelings,
Dekalb-Peachtree Airport KPDK Atlanta, GA
Oct. 30, 2007
#1, #2

Comet 17P/Holmes was as bright as nearby stars. It was a very easy target even with all the city lights. Comet was photographed from the observation deck of the Dekalb-Peachtree Airport KPDK in Atlanta. Nikon D200, 18-200mm VR AFS


Nicholas M Guydosh,
Kopernik Observatory, Vestal, NY, near Binghamton, NY.
Oct. 30, 2007
#1

I am a staff member of the Kopernik Observatory, Vestal, NY. This is a composite of two exposures of Comet Holmes. The 15 second exposure details the inner coma, and the 2 minute exposure details the fainter haze outside the familiar inner coma "disk". Both images used a 300mm camera lens at f/5.6 on a Canon Rebel XT camera body at ISO 1600. The camera was mounted "piggy-back" on a 3.5" Questar telescope that was used to track the object. Sky conditions were a bit hazy with noticeable light pollution.


Eugene Miller,
Rooftop in Brooklyn, New York, 6:30AM
Oct. 31, 2007
#1, #2, #3, #4,

While photographing Comet Holmes a jet aircraft flew right through it! What a lucky flightpath. The sky was clear and the constellation Perseus and Comet Holmes were all very bright. As an added bonus a brilliant Moon was high in the sky and to the east Venus shone brightly at daybreak. Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT camera, 400 ASA, 75-300mm lense (Comet Holmes and Moon), 18-55mm lense (Venus), 15s exposure, f=5.6 (for comet photos), for Moon 1/125s exposure at f=5.6, for Venus 1/4s exposure at f=3.5, all photos with tripod and remote shutter release and manual focus.


Elizabeth Warner,
College Park, MD
Oct. 31, 2007
#1, more

Although not spectacular like McNaught, Holmes has its own unique charms! I stayed most of the night at the campus observatory to get these pics and have to be back at work shortly. But it was well worth it! Details: Canon 20DA ISO 800, 152mm f/9 refractor, 2x30s shots about 75 minutes apart (12:27, 01:43 EDT)


Teri Smoot,
New Mexico Skies, Mayhill NM
Oct. 30, 2007
#1, more

I have been following this comet since the evening of the 24th. I've taken images every evening since then and combined them into a montage showing the position and size.

more images (Oct. 30-31): from David Strange of the Norman Lockyer Observatory, Devon, UK; from Rob Kantelberg of Sint-Oedenrode, the Netherlands; from Joerg Schuenemann of Kiel, Germany; from Donald A. Kocsis of Tucson, Arizona; from John McClintock of Johnsville, Ohio; from Erika Rix of Zanesville, Ohio; from Terry Lutz of Plymouth, Ohio; from Alin Tolea of Baltimore, MD; from Tom Davis of Salisbury, NC; from Ralph Pass of Merrimack College Observatory, North Andvoer, Massachusetts; from Roberto Garofalo & Fabrizio Marchi of TREVISO - ITALY; from Dr Armando Lee of Martinville Subdivision, Las Pinas City, Metro Manila, The Philippines; a sketch from Rok Vogrincic of Slovenia; from Catalin Fus of Alexandria, Teleorman, Romania; from Chris Jones of Tularosa, New Mexico; from Frans Kerren of Venlo Netherlands; from Reza Amini Nejad of Arak, Markazi, Iran; from Francisco A. Rodriguez Ramirez of MontaƱa Cabreja Observatory MPC J45 Gran Canaria - Canary Islands; from Ingo Scholtes of Lampaden, Germany; from Patrice Arnaudet of Mery sur oise, France;