Comet 17P/ Holmes -Images and Animation
GHAAS Eckley Site
October 27, 2007
by Gary Honis
On 10/27/07 I observed and imaged Comet Holmes from the GHAAS observing site in Eckley, PA. I first saw Comet Holmes with 10X60 binoculars from near the security gate as darkness fell. No tail on this comet but still an impressive view. I set up two scopes for observing and imaging:
A modified Canon Digital Rebel camera was used for imaging through both scopes.
This is the view to the East after I set up the scopes:
The nearby Eckley Miners' Village was having a public Holloween Event, but the lights were no trouble since this was a Full Moon night for observing. The winds were very bad. I propped up some fence sections next to the van for wind blockage:
This photo using a camera lens shows the interference from the nearby Moon. The comet was positioned as an extra extension on the leg of the running man of the constellation Perseus. The nearer two bright stars in Perseus are 3.0 and 1.8 magnitude. My guess is that the magnitude of the comet was around 2.0:
The Orion ED80 Refractor provided this image of the comet. 8 exposures of six seconds each at ISO 1600 were stacked using sigma clipped median in Images Plus for the image. Yes, this is a very bright comet!
The 20" Starmaster provided this image of the comet. 18 exposures of two seconds each at ISO 1600 were stacked using sigma clipped median in Images Plus for the image:
The following animation cycles through images taken of the comet through the 20" Starmaster at exposures varying from .8 seconds to 2.5 seconds. The nucleus of the comet is very bright. The animation helps to show layers of structure in the comet. The shorter .8 second exposure shows more detail near the nucleus. Some movement of the nucleus in relation to the background stars can also be seen. This is an animated GIF file and may take some time to load:
For other deep sky images taken with the Modified Digital Rebel CLICK HERE.
Infrared Canon Digital Rebel 300D camera and infrared digital camera with infrared filter for infrared photography