[AZ-Observing] Re: Comet Holmes

No, actually the image has it right.  By the October 27 at 1h UT (the third 
frame in the sequence), the inner shell of the comet had an angular size of 
about 3.7'.  At a distance of 1.63 a.u., that's a diameter of 163,000 miles, or 
about 80% larger than Jupiter.  It really was that large on the night of 
October 26.

The shell is growing at a rate of about 1.4' per day, which translates to the 
diameter increasing by 60,000 miles per day.

Jeremy Perez has plotted his visual diameter measurements at his blog.

http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/

Tom

---- Richard Harshaw <rharshaw2@xxxxxxx> wrote: 
> Neat photo, but a little misleading.  Visually, Holmes is quite large.  But
> in space, it is much closer to us right now than Jupiter, so if the image
> was adjusted for this, it would not be as impressive.  Still, nice picture!
> 
> Dick H
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Joseph R. Goss
> Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 6:59 AM
> To: "Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org
> Subject: [AZ-Observing] Comet Holmes
> 
> Check out this Astro pic of the day
> http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0710/holmes_allen_big.gif
> 
> --
> See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please 
> send personal replies to the author, not the list.
> 
> 
> --
> See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please 
> send personal replies to the author, not the list.
> 

--
See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please 
send personal replies to the author, not the list.

Other related posts: