The Andromeda Observatory

This was the first opportunity to observe Comet 17P/Holmes since it mysteriously brightened a few days ago. Then at magnitude 17 it erupted to become some 1 million times brighter and is now easily visible without optical aid. This picture is an unguided 15 second exposure of the constellation Perseus using a Canon EOS 350D with a 55mm lens at f/5.6. The comet can be seen in the lower left of the image. The large coma around the nucleus is easily visible even in a wide angle shot such as this. Also apparent is the comet's distinct green colour.

With several days of cloudy night skies forecast for the island, this evening could possibly be the best chance to get a close up of the comet, so the opportunity was not allowed to slip. With a Canon EOS 350D at the prime focus of the 10" f/10 LX200, a number of images were taken during some brief clear spells. The image shown here is a 30 second exposure at ISO 400. Some structure is clearly visible within the coma but no evidence of a tail was apparent.

Kevin Deakes - The Andromeda Observatory 2007.