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Author Topic: A comet called Homes  (Read 521 times)

Offline Angus

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A comet called Homes
« on: November 17, 2007, 12:49:16 PM »
Hello all.
Apparently we have a passing-by comet named Holmes. It is passing by, and what makes it cool to watch is a sphere of gas (I belive), - so in that blurry mode it is as big as the Sun.
It can be seen with the naked eye by now. So I was wondering if you AH'ers are also stargazers, or rather if you have the means or knowledge where to locate it.
In my place now, it is a bright night...
The best I know is this:
"Mirfak (Algenib)"

Where is Algenib?
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It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline Angus

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #1 on: November 17, 2007, 12:55:54 PM »
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It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline Tac

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #2 on: November 17, 2007, 01:13:55 PM »
http://stellarium.sourceforge.net/

download the program for free.

You will find any celestial object with it and it will show it to you from your location (aka you choose your city and the program shows you the sky the way you see it).
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Offline texasmom

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #3 on: November 17, 2007, 01:19:22 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Tac
http://stellarium.sourceforge.net/

download the program for free.

You will find any celestial object with it and it will show it to you from your location (aka you choose your city and the program shows you the sky the way you see it).

Nice!
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Offline Airscrew

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #4 on: November 17, 2007, 07:17:35 PM »
Thanks Tac,  I have got to say that has got to be one of the best programs or links anyone has ever posted here.   I have been looking a long time for a nice plantarium program, years maybe...

Now I just have to figure out where the comet is supposed to be.  I'm pretty sure I've seen it, but its cloudy and raining tonight so no stargazing tonight..:(
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Offline texasmom

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #5 on: November 17, 2007, 08:04:00 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Airscrew
Now I just have to figure out where the comet is supposed to be.  I'm pretty sure I've seen it, but its cloudy and raining tonight so no stargazing tonight..:(


I'm not sure if this is the same one or not that he's talking about. But there's one that's been visible for a week (maybe more).

I'm gonna give directions, but they'll probably be crappy ~ so I'll just apologize in advance.

Stand facing northward.  Up high is caseopea (sp?).  From where we're at, it makes the M shape instead of W.  See how the middle point of the M and the top right point of the M are in line?  Follow that line eastward about 10 (ish) degrees.

Directly in that line is another star.  That particular star is at the top of a triangle, with what looks like two other stars close & underneath it.

The one on the right is a star, but the one on the left is a comet.
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Offline Donzo

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #6 on: November 17, 2007, 08:12:58 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by texasmom
I'm not sure if this is the same one or not that he's talking about. But there's one that's been visible for a week (maybe more).

I'm gonna give directions, but they'll probably be crappy ~ so I'll just apologize in advance.

Stand facing northward.  Up high is caseopea (sp?).  From where we're at, it makes the M shape instead of W.  See how the middle point of the M and the top right point of the M are in line?  Follow that line eastward about 10 (ish) degrees.

Directly in that line is another star.  That particular star is at the top of a triangle, with what looks like two other stars close & underneath it.

The one on the right is a star, but the one on the left is a comet.


That's it.

Excellent directions! :aok
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Offline texasmom

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #7 on: November 17, 2007, 08:28:08 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Donzo
That's it.Excellent directions! :aok

Super! :)
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Offline AWMac

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #8 on: November 17, 2007, 08:43:16 PM »
They're not leaving me behind this dam time!

I still have my shroud and tennis shoes...

That old "Hey it's the doorbell" crap ain't working this time!

:D

Mac


BTW nice thread :aok
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Offline Slash27

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #9 on: November 17, 2007, 10:35:30 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by AWMac
They're not leaving me behind this dam time!

I still have my shroud and tennis shoes...

That old "Hey it's the doorbell" crap ain't working this time!

:D

Mac


BTW nice thread :aok


Are they Nikes and did you shave your coin purse yet?
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Offline moot

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #10 on: November 18, 2007, 12:35:40 AM »
Holmes is now a little under half of the moon in apparent size.  It's been dimming for a while now, so you're best off seeing it sooner than later.
Celestia also works as a planetarium, although it's not dedicated to that function, so you have to do a few things to see your sky (move to your spot on earth, press Y for geocentric "orbit", press * to look 180deg back from your spot on earth, and set the time), you do get a real 3D universe you can travel to.
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/
There's tons of addons for it too, from spacecraft past and future to deep sky objects, some of them pretty good looking given the graphics engine:
http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/

Holmes' gotten pretty big (1.4million miles), but in the past Hale-Bopp's gotten to 2 or 3 Mmiles, and Hyakute's tail was something like half a billion miles long.
Jupiter's magnetosphere is big enough that it'd be about 8 times (iirc) the apparent size of the moon in our sky if we could see it.
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Offline RTHolmes

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #11 on: November 18, 2007, 07:52:52 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by moot Holmes is now a little under half of the moon in apparent size.

o cmon, I've gained a few pounds since I switched from marathon running to AH but thats an exaggeration! :eek:
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Offline Curval

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #12 on: November 18, 2007, 08:50:13 AM »
Was it named after Johnny "The Wad" Holmes?  Because of coupious discharge of gases around the comet or something?
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Offline TalonX

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #13 on: November 18, 2007, 09:42:10 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Tac
http://stellarium.sourceforge.net/

download the program for free.

You will find any celestial object with it and it will show it to you from your location (aka you choose your city and the program shows you the sky the way you see it).


Wow, I must be stupid.  I can't figure out how to tell it where I am.

:(
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Offline moot

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A comet called Homes
« Reply #14 on: November 18, 2007, 09:47:51 AM »
Talon if you download Celestia, I'll walk you through it.
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