CalSky map to find Comet Holmes/17P

October 25, 2007 10:00 PM

Here's an excellent map if you want to see Comet Holmes/17P tonight(the comet that, until a couple of nights ago you would have needed a pretty good-sized telescope to even see. Then (out of the blue, as it were) it unexpectedly brightened by over 1,000,000 times to become an easy object for your naked eye –even with the nearly full moon in the sky). I did not know about CalSky but (despite some less-than-attractive web design) is truly the best of the web for online astronomy info and sky maps!

With the map above, finding the comet is dead simple. Just follow these directions. Click on the map link above and then zoom out a few clicks until you see the "W" of the constellation Cassiopeia in the upper right corner of the picture. Now print it out and take it outside. Rotate the paper 90 degrees counter-clockwise, so the "w" is now in the upper left. Look very high up in the north and you should see the "w". Now look lower and more to the northeast and you will see a small right triangle. The one that is not part of the constellation Perseus is Comet Holmes/17P (currently a Magnitude 3 object). In binoculars it will look like a fuzzy star. Congrats for finding it!

posted by spock (24 comments total)

Bright enough to be seen through the wildfire smoke streams? The sun as halloween orange all day today.
posted by Fupped Duck at 10:02 PM on October 25, 2007

On the map, Comet Holmes/17P is in in the dead center. Rolling your mouse over it will show you which one it is. It also has a small line drawn next to it, so you can tell which one on the printed map.
posted by spock at 10:03 PM on October 25, 2007

Sign up for a free CalSky account and you can get email alerts (like when aurora could be visible, based on your location) and, optionally, these other interesting events —

Satellites:

• Good ISS passes of today
• Space Shuttle events and passes of today
• Good Iridium flares of today
• Sun/Moon/Planet/Bright Star Crossings of ISS (7 days)
• Sun crossing satellites for 7 days
• Sun/Moon crossing satellites for 1 day
• Satellites decaying potentially close to your site (3 days)
• Space Junk decaying potentially close to your site (same as link above, but including smaller debris; 3 days)
• See soon decaying satellites (1 day)

Eclipses:

• Upcoming local solar eclipse(s)
• Upcoming local solar transit of Mercury or Venus
• Upcoming local lunar eclipse
• Lunar occulations of stars and planets

Miscellaneous:

• Aurora Alert (checks every 30 minutes)
• Full Moon Alert
• Bright comets visible today
• Meteor streams active today
• Your supernovae brighter than 14.5 Mag today
• New supernovae discoveries (visible from your site)
• New supernovae discoveries (brighter than 14mag and visible from your site)
• Variable stars today
• Variable stars today (w/o eclipsing binaries)
• Current weather satellite image
• Weather balloon sighting opportunities

posted by spock at 10:15 PM on October 25, 2007

Nice resource! Thanks for the link.
posted by vito90 at 10:20 PM on October 25, 2007

Sky is clear here, but full moon is far too bright to see even Cassiopeia.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:41 PM on October 25, 2007

Must be light pollution from a city or sumpin' cause I've got the same moon in my sky and it's not a problem.
: )
posted by spock at 10:51 PM on October 25, 2007

Very cool. Found it without too much trouble. Thanks!

(I hate how the calsky map won't seem to let you do a right-click and save.)
posted by maxwelton at 10:58 PM on October 25, 2007

I lost this site, along with many other bookmarks, a few months back and have been looking for it on and off ever since. The calendar (scroll down) is the best part.

Thank you.
posted by 517 at 11:01 PM on October 25, 2007

it unexpectedly brightened by over 1,000,000 times

That's a little bit scary, isn't it?

Maybe I'm just easily scared by space things.

Aliens.
posted by chrismear at 1:50 AM on October 26, 2007

Holmes in the 'hood!
posted by pantsrobot at 1:50 AM on October 26, 2007

May I also recommend: Heaven's Above.
posted by popcassady at 5:42 AM on October 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

Cool, thanks spock. Hale-Bopp was such a fantastic site (even without the spaceship it would have been cool). I hope we get to see something that amazing again.
posted by itchylick at 7:31 AM on October 26, 2007

it unexpectedly brightened by over 1,000,000 times


Landing lights? Check.
posted by greatgefilte at 7:36 AM on October 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

Funny. The main link (1st) returns a blank page for me. Is the universe ending, already?
posted by Goofyy at 8:32 AM on October 26, 2007

Blanks for me too. Does that mean "California Sky"? I have New York sky above me here (theory: I'll see no comet there, it's grey and rainy today) so perhaps that explains the blankness.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 8:47 AM on October 26, 2007

All I get is a blank page as well.
posted by Relay at 9:18 AM on October 26, 2007

...it unexpectedly brightened by over 1,000,000 times...

"This is equivalent to the planet Saturn suddenly becoming as bright as the Full Moon,"

Sweet Jesus, what are you telling me? Is Saturn going to explode?

*points at computer screaming*

This scientist just said that Saturn is going to explode!

::panic erupts::

Main page is blank for me as well :(
posted by quin at 9:44 AM on October 26, 2007

Here is the link to the Night's Comets page. Holmes/17P is the first one in the table. Click on "Holmes" to get your map.
posted by spock at 9:48 AM on October 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

Comet brightens mysteriously by a factor of a million

Perhaps from behaving less like an interplanetary sun dog, and more like a fluorescent lamp*?

See They Sing the Comet Electric, Wired 08.02.05. More at Thunderbolts POD, including their May 23, 2005 article Comets, Gravity, and Electricity (and others in their "Comets" archives).

*More about Richard Box's Light Field project.
posted by cenoxo at 10:44 AM on October 26, 2007

Fascinating, cenoxo! Nice comment!
posted by spock at 11:59 AM on October 26, 2007

The page is slashdotted. But the bigger problem is the moon, which was full last night. The moon rises about 45 minutes later each night, so maybe the clear skies will hold a few days, please?
posted by neuron at 12:06 PM on October 26, 2007

Astronomy Picture of the Day
SPACE.COM Image of the Day
Wired News
Wikipedia

This has been a periodic comet with a 6.9 year orbit (though it was lost for nearly 50 years last century), but this event could mean its demise or its decline to an even more minor comet on future visits.

One unusual point of interest: No tail (it may get a visible tail as it comes closer to the Sun).
posted by dhartung at 12:35 PM on October 26, 2007

I recall that Comet Austin also sported no tail (although it was considered a huge disappointment after expectations for it were heightened).

I showed my wife tonight and she was amazed at how easy it was to see, particularly with the nearly full moon near by and standing (as we were) in a mall parking lot full of mercury/sodium vapor lights.

In my (admittedly non-astronomical binoculars) 6x30s, it appeared larger and fuzzier tonight than it did last night. I'm hoping it stays bright until the moon can be out of the sky for at least a portion of the evening!
posted by spock at 8:09 PM on October 26, 2007

Comet Austin 1989c1: What went wrong?
posted by spock at 8:14 PM on October 26, 2007