FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Re: Colmet Holmes Tuesday night and changes in the Hubble Variable Nebula

["AJ Crayon" <acrayon@xxxxxxx>]

Paul, I remember, and rather vaguely at that just now, Tom Polakis took some 
images of The Hubble Variable Nebula over an extended period - perhaps a 
year or so.  Put together a nice gif/jpeg to show it changes.  It was quite 
a hit on the internet.

Tom is my memory correct an if so are the images still available?

aj
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "L Knauth" <Knauth@xxxxxxx>
To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 2:52 PM
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Colmet Holmes Tuesday night and changes in the 
Hubble Variable Nebula


Paul Lind and I aimed telescopes at the universe at Hovatter Norte =
Tuesday night under amazingly clear and transparent skies.  Comet Holmes =
is, indeed, quite spectacular to the naked eye under such conditions. =
Through the 25", it is a huge splash still with a razor sharp edge on =
one side and lots of stars shining through.  It has become much more =
elongated. The finder view was great, but the naked eye view is the most =
startling. =20

The bigger news is that the Hubble Variable Nebula (NGC 2261) appears to =
have changed dramatically since last season.  It is no longer connected =
to R Mon; there is big black void between it and the outer, fan-shaped =
glow we are so familiar with.  Lots of intricate structure in the =
transition in the 25".  Or, am I just remembering this wrong?  Sure =
seems to me that the last time I looked, that the big void between fan =
and R Mon wasn't there (or at least was just a stringer in the fan).=20

Take a look and see what you think.

Also, can anyone compute where the gegenshein was last night (Dec 4)?  =
Lind and I were struck by an unusually distinctive bright glow just off =
the open end of the Taurus "V", right where NGC 1647 is (only much =
bigger than 1647).  The sky was so great we were wondering if this is =
outlying Milky Way.  It was certainly near where we thought the =
gegenshein should have been.

Paul Knauth
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