THE COMET

[rockNroses]

Look at the sky, it's in the northeast getting brighter and bigger by the minute.

What the fuck is this?

[fuckin crazy]

I posted this on another forum the other day:

Breaking news: sudden naked eye comet

 

Posted on October 24th, 2007 at 2:32 PM in Astronomy, Cool stuff |

BABloggee Dan Fischer emailed me to say that comet 17P/Holmes has brightened incredibly, from magnitude 17 to magnitude 3 literally overnight. That?s a brightening of a factor of 400,000!

It?s incredible, and it appears to be legit (see also here). The comet is in the constellation Perseus, and is about 4 degrees from the bright star Mirfak.




I will go out and check this tonight for sure! To see for yourself, first, be in the northern hemisphere.  Then around 8:00 local time face northeast. See the big W on its side, facing left? That?s Cassiopeia. Below is the star Mirfak (if you keep looking lower, near the horizon, you?ll see the far brighter yellow star Capella). The comet is just below and to the left of Mirfak, and the star is about 3 or 4 times brighter than the comet is supposed to be ? unless the comet gets even brighter or fades away. The comet should be easily visible and fuzzy-looking in binoculars.

You can find online sky maps at Your Sky and Heavens Above that can help you.

Sometimes comets can brighten a lot if they break up a bit when they are near the Sun, exposing previously buried reservoirs of ice which then sublimate and are lit up by the Sun. If this is what happened, we need as many observations of it as possible to nail down the brightness. Given that Comet Holmes is over 220 million miles from the Sun and 150 million miles from the Earth, this is very impressive indeed.

From BA's Blog

[fuckin crazy]

Another post I did on the same forum is about another comet that is visible right now:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
We could be in for a real treat towards the end of the month. LONEOS (C/2007 F1) reaches perihelion near the end of Oct. It is thought that the comet will reach 4th mag., in which case, it will be nearly as bright as Schwassnann-Watchman 3(the cool one last summer)

LONEOS is a very long period comet. Some models predict this is the first time this comet has been in the inner Solar System in 42 thousand years; others show a first time visit. In either case, this thing has not undergone very much sublimation. So, it could be a good one.

Last Dec. predictions for C2006P1 McNaught, put that comet around mag 6; it ultimately reached -14 in early Jan., and it was so bright it could be seen in daylight. Truly a spectacular sight. Though, I don't think LONEOS will get that bright, but you never know.
 

I'll post some updates and charts later.
 

UPDATE:

BRIGHTENING COMET: Comet LONEOS (C/2007 F1) is brightening. "Last night I saw it with the naked eye," reports Martin McKenna of Maghera, Co. Derry, N. Ireland. It wasn't very bright--"just 6th magnitude"--but definitely there.? "The comet sported a beautiful green coma with a blue ion tail."

Tonight, Oct. 17th, is a good night to find Comet LONEOS as it glides by the 3rd magnitude star Muphrid in the constellation Bootes. Let Muphrid be your guide! The time to look is immediately after sundown. LONEOS is near the horizon and sets not long after darkness falls:



Above: Comet LONEOS on Oct. 16th, a one-minute exposure through a 4-inch refracting telescope. Credit: Tibor Horvath of Hegyhatsal, Hungary.

Comet LONEOS is brightening because it is falling toward the sun. At closest approach on Oct. 29th it will be just outside the orbit of Mercury. How bright will LONEOS become? Experts estimate 4th magnitude--not a Great Comet but still a nice target for backyard telescopes. Stay tuned for updates!

From SpaceWeather.com


FINDER CHART: The position of Jupiter is approximate, but it should be pretty close. It is the bright "star" on the western horizon.




More later

[fuckin crazy]

It has been fucking raining and overcast ever since this thing went from mag 17 to mag 2.5 so I still haven not been able to see it yet. As it is still a good distance from perihelion, it should be visible for a while ... I hope.

[rockNroses]

It looks like a normal star with the naked eye, but with binoculars...intresting!

I wonder why there are no Huble pictures of it yet?

[fuckin crazy]

Hubble is booked months in advance and is not really suitable for solar system research. It is more of a wide field telescope. Most people prefer "slow" telescopes for planetary work.

These are a couple of images taken with a 14in Smitt/Cass that I lifted from Spaceweather.com. It is getting asymmetric so hopefully it will develope a nice tail.

[rockNroses]

If it does not develop a tail...well, better not think about that.

[fuckin crazy]

This is a photo of the Great Comet of January:


It started off the much the same way as 17/P Holmes; no one expected it to get very bright, but then it "blew up". For this thing to be in Perseus, it is still a long way from it's closest approach to the Sun. We could be in for a real treat.

[GNRreunioneventually]

will it be able to be viewed  tonight?

[fuckin crazy]

will it be able to be viewed tonight?

Yes, click one of the links above for more information.

[GNRreunioneventually]

will it be able to be viewed tonight?

Yes, click one of the links above for more information.

awesome, thanks

i'll have to break out my telescope for this

[rockNroses]

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1045.htm

[rockNroses]

More pictures here:

http://www.danlessmann.com/AstroPages/CometHolmes17P.htm



That thing is not exploding, it has just begun to reproduce itself.

Two cores now, each one being as big as the original. And as bright.

With binoculars, this isn't that funny to watch anymore.

I'm afraid this could be a bit more than just another comet.

[fuckin crazy]

More pictures here:

http://www.danlessmann.com/AstroPages/CometHolmes17P.htm



That thing is not exploding, it has just begun to reproduce itself.

Two cores now, each one being as big as the original. And as bright.

With binoculars, this isn't that funny to watch anymore.

I'm afraid this could be a bit more than just another comet.

Nope, That is all it is. This is a comet that has been known about for a long time. Schwamann-Wachmann 3 broke up into over 40 fragments last summer.

[rockNroses]

I hope its only a comet.

But how come the second piece is as big and as bright as the original?

Also, look at these pictures:

http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=17788&posts=37

[fuckin crazy]

But how come the second piece is as big and as bright as the original?

Outgassing and sublimation as a result of the fresh surfaces being exposed.

I'll see if I can find a pic of 73/P from last summer showing the many fragments.

[The Dog]

I hope its only a comet.

As opposed to what else?

[rockNroses]

I hope its only a comet.

As opposed to what else?

I don't know, that's why I'm curious. What else could it be?

[GNRreunioneventually]

I hope its only a comet.

As opposed to what else?

well if he means an astroid don't worry, the last i heard an astroid won't come close to earth until the early 2030s. If we're still here by then.....


those pictures are pretty cool. I tried looking towards teh north east like it said but i didn't have any luck, i think its because theres a full moon where i am not sure though wish i could have seen it for myself.

[fuckin crazy]

The C component of 73/P passing the Ring Nebula M57. Notice the barred spiral galaxy IC 1296 about have way between M57 and 73/P.


B and C components of 73/P