With the anniversary of the Hale-Bopp Comet thought I would write a few more thoughts on Comet Holmes, mentioned in that post. In 2007 I had read in Sky & Telescope that the Comet Holmes would be visible the week of Halloween, so on Halloween, with clear skies, I grabbed my 10″ Meade SCT, polar aligned it, and reviewed the sky near the constellation Perseus. When I found it, I was pleasantly surprised! To the naked eye it looked like a fuzzy star, but through a telescope is was immediately recognizable. Always exciting to see a celestial object through the lens of a telescope, not visible or well observed, with the naked eye.
Discovered by Edwin Holmes in 1892, it orbits the sun with a period of approximately 7 years. Usually Comet Holmes requires a deep space imaging telescope to see; however, in 2007 Comet Holmes had brightened a half million times and became the largest outburst by a comet. Although not as spectacular a sight as Hale-Bopp, it was still fun to view and photograph. Comet Holmes’ next perihelion, when closest to the sun like in 2007, will be February 19, 2021. Probably a long shot, but maybe another outburst will happen for more comet gazing.
Aldie, VA, Nov 2, 2007
Meade 10″ LX200GPS SCT, Nikon D100 – Prime Focal, ISO 1600 – 30s exposure
