Red Barn Observatory MPC/IAU H68

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Date:  20071025

Session:  Comet 17P (Holmes) Outburst Observation

Detections:  Comet 17P Holmes

Submissions:  0 Submissions - Observation Session

Comet 17P suddenly produced a massive increase in brightness yesterday and has now become a naked eye target.  Before the outburst, the magnitude of the comet was ~17 - after the outburst the comet brightened to ~2.8.  During the time I was imaging the comet, the moon was very bright (Full) and the sky was partially cloudy and very hazy.  The "hazy" object above the comet is a reflection produced in my optics...somewhere.

These are the same images produced from 20 - 3 second exposures stacked in Astrometrica.  Three seconds were too long of exposures so adjustments will likely need to be made during the next observing session.

More images will come later...