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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
 Posted - 2007-11-05 : 11:37:39
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Got any binoculars? Preferably about x70 but x30-x50 will do. If you have a clear evening during the next 10 days then you ought to take a look at Comet Holmes - it is at its closest to Earth and the moon will not be in the night sky.Something bizarre has happened to it and it has rocketed in brightness and already looks the same as its adjacent stars to the naked eye.But actually its a huge ball of dust and debris. And I mean HUGE! Its a weird thing to pinpoint it in the sky (looking like a dot of light like any other star), then look through binoculars and you see this enormous puff of "stuff".Its North East at 7PM and 45 degrees from the horizon. By 11PM its due East and 75 degrees -that will crick your neck!How to find it:Have a look at the Sky Map here:http://www.skymaps.com/skymaps/tesmn0711.pdfNote that East and West are reversed - if you hold it above your head, with N/S orientated, then E/W will be correct.Basically you want to find the W of Cassiopeia directly overhead. The "W" shape is pretty distinctive.Take this orientation: the "W" goes from NE to SW on the map - got it? The "Left V" is a bit wider, and doesn't stick out as far, as the "Right V"NE ... \/\/ ... SW . . . * Follow the line from the two stars that make up the red "limb" of the "W" towards the NE (7PM) or E (11PM) about half way to the ground. There is a clump of a few stars in the middle of Perseus - you will find that the bright ones are about the same brightness, but the one off to the left [as you look up] is the comet. Once you've located it with the naked eye point your binoculars at it - you may need to do an air-sea-rescue-search-pattern - sweep up, move left a bit, sweep down, then left a bit more and sweep up ... and so on.To the Left of the comet [as you look up, i.e. NE) is the star Capella - it is significantly brighter that anything else in that part of the sky. That may help to orientate you.And if its after about 11PM and you draw a line from the "W" of Cassiopeia through Capella and down to close to the horizon you'll get to Mars. That will be the brightest object, and clearly orange/red. (And through binoculars it won't look like a star)Depends a bit on your Latitude though.Here's a picture showing the size of the comet halo relative to the size of Earth:http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/attachments/1962323-halosize1.jpgKristen |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2007-11-05 : 14:38:44
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"You do not have permission to acccess the /skymaps/tesmn0711.pdf directory on this web site"You serious? Or are you trying their Alpha Centuri mirror?  The link to their Sky Maps in on their homepage, (which in turn links to http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html) maybe they Forbid direct links, rather than links referred by their own site?Nah, I reckon you are pulling my chain ... I can fire up Acrobat and just bung the URL into it, and it will grab the file, so its either your Scrooge employer not wanting your to waste bandwidth, or you are pulling my chain. I reckon the second of those ... I'm going to go out with my little one to have a look shortly (Age=9 years. SQL=NULL). I'll report back whether she is impressed, or not.Kristen |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2007-11-05 : 15:21:08
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Astronomers curse ... cloudy. I can faintly make out the comet through the clouds, but it ain't going to be a "Wow!" object for a 9 year old, so game over until tomorrow. Weather forecast is reasonably clear for early tomorrow evening. We shall see ...I'll bet I'm going to wish I got he big 'scope out last night when it was crystal clear  Kristen |
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Zoroaster
Aged Yak Warrior
702 Posts |
Posted - 2007-11-05 : 15:39:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Kristen
Astronomers curse ... cloudy. I can faintly make out the comet through the clouds, but it ain't going to be a "Wow!" object for a 9 year old, so game over until tomorrow. Weather forecast is reasonably clear for early tomorrow evening. We shall see ...I'll bet I'm going to wish I got he big 'scope out last night when it was crystal clear Kristen
Thanks for the info Kristen - I'm going to check it out, I used to love astronomy back when I was a kid in the UK and Patrick Moore was on TV.
Future guru in the making. |
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Michael Valentine Jones
Yak DBA Kernel (pronounced Colonel)
7020 Posts |
Posted - 2007-11-05 : 15:45:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Kristen...The link to their Sky Maps in on their homepage, (which in turn links to http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html) maybe they Forbid direct links, rather than links referred by their own site?...
I got the same error, but I was able to get to it through the download page.CODO ERGO SUM |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2007-11-06 : 03:40:56
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| "... and Patrick Moore was on TV."He still is ... monocle and all!Kristen |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2007-11-08 : 15:44:27
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| Crystal clear sky tonight, got the big 'scope out. That thing is serious weird. And big.Worth a look if you get the chance ...Kristen |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2007-11-09 : 01:28:24
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| Comet's halo now bigger than the sun! (which my schoolboy science tells me is 10x bigger than Jupiter and 100x bigger than the earth)http://gallery.utahastronomy.com/d/10591-1/C17P_Size.PNG |
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Comet Holmes