17P/Holmes

Published: 02 April 2024

One from the archive. 2007 November to be specific. 

This was a comet that brightened significantly on 2007-10-23/24. The magnitude rose from about mag 17 to mag 2.8, approximately 1,000,000 times brighter,. No tail was visible as it was pointing directly away from the earth at that time. The coma (the nebulosity surrounding the nucleus) increased in size as shown in the photographs below. Note that the tail also started to become visible. The comet was located in the constellation of Perseus at this time.

Heading photo - Comet 17P/Holmes at 2007-11-02 - 19:37:53 UTC

Comet 17P/Holmes at 2007-11-11 - 22:51:09 UTC

Comet 17P/Holmes at 2007-11-13 - 22:40:55 UTC

Comet 17P/Holmes at 2007-11-15 - 20:37:11 UTC

All photos

• Skywatcher 200 F5 Newtonian Telescope
• EQ5 mount driven in RA
• Konica Minolta 7D Camera at prime focus (single exposure)
• Image cropped