Comet Holmes - WOW.

I haven't posted in a while, but I have been doing some observing as time allows. I meant to post about the last Mingo Creek star party, but never got around to it. But who knew then what October had in store? Comet Holmes, baby!

As many (if not most, by now) amateur astronomers have heard, this past week Comet 17P/Holmes jumped from a mag 17 to a mag 2-3. It took only a few days, and the coma surrounding it appears to be growing larger still (though the magnitude may be dimming).

I first saw it earlier this week, and it was an easy find in Perseus in the NE sky. Even my 6 year old found it, saying he could see that the star was "fuzzy". He claims to have seen it in the 10x50 binoculars, but I can't say for sure that he did.

And what a view! In my 10x50s, Holmes is a big ball of dust, with at least two sections to the coma. I see mostly yellow with a hint of green. I used the reflector and a 15mm eyepiece, but really had more fun looking through the binoculars.

This is historic, and a wonderful treat for Halloween. We've been blessed with wide open skies here in western PA, so I've been looking at it every chance I get!

Also at night, the Pleiades are as wonderful as ever, and M31 (Andromeda) is still a great find. In the morning, Orion is blazing away, and I caught Venus and Mars yesterday and today. Even today, in the Giant Eagle parking lot at 6AM with lights and the moon ablaze, I was able to see Orion and Mars. I love fall observing!
I hope to get the scope on Mars sometime this weekend. I really want to spend some quality time with it.

Thanks,
Todd

More Orion

Took another early morning peak at M42, this time with the reflector. Hard to resist a calm, clear morning when it's so easily spotted in the sky. Since the moon was out and it was nearing dawn, there wasn't a lot of detail (oh, and my scope has a tiny mirror...lol...). I decided to spend a few minutes looking at the moon's terminator instead, since it was much more detailed. I'm dying for a larger scope!