Close Up of Comet 17/P Holmes 25 Oct 2007

I have to say it didn't look right to me either, but what the most recent pics are showing now is a very slight dim ring that is about half the diameter of the complete coma, we saw this visually on Thursday night.
AND, the central point didn't seem perfectly star point to me on Thursday, I had put it down to seeing or a warm mirror, but people are now saying its real so thats cool !

Dave G the "shock wave" effects look far too strong to be a real feature and I've not seen anthing similar in any other images on the web.

Kieran, whatever they are I'm pretty sure the dreaded dust bunnies are not the source. Wherever on the chip I placed the comet, they appeared. I thought I might have over sharpened the image but looking at a totally unsharpened blown up version( just brightness increased), the features are clearly discernable, so It aint that either. This is the unsharpened blown up version;



The original image is heavily sharpened to highlight the features thats why they look so strong, but as you can see they are there in the unsharpened version.

I cannot find images on the net with these features but then I cannot find any images taken at the same time and using a similar technique. Remember this image was captured using the same technique planetary imagers use to bring out tiny details on planets. Thus any such features might escape those using a smaller dataset.

the central point didn't seem perfectly star point to me on Thursday, I had put it down to seeing or a warm mirror, but people are now saying its real so thats cool !

Yep, I agree. Look at this enlargement of the central portion the nucleus. The nucleus looks definitely elongated. Sort of bipolar.



I guess the reason for the nucleus not being a perfect point source is that 17P is venting a lot of material from a discreet set of points and it is this which makes it look odd shaped.

One thing that crossed my mind. What if 17P is not one comet but two smaller ones which stuck together at some time in the past. The two could slightly separate occassionally and then slap together again, ejecting large amounts of material as they do. Just a wacky theory.

One thing that crossed my mind. What if 17P is not one comet but two smaller ones which stuck together at some time in the past. The two could slightly separate occassionally and then slap together again, ejecting large amounts of material as they do. Just a wacky theory.

Might be something in that, two loosly bound conglomerates.

Has anyone noticed any red in the comet this evening? I could swear that the lower part of the comet was showing red in the binoculars and naked eye. Also I reckon that it has increased in size, though has not brightened since last night - it may be becoming more diffuse. It certainly seems more colourful than last night more green in the upper and an occasional hint of red lower.

Interesting theory Dave, I reckon something just cracked and next thing you know, you have a big eruption.
Looking at the nucleus and the mini fan trail of it reminds me of the Giotto shots back in 1986 of the core of Halleys comet.

neo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/halley2.jpg

John, how did you see it?, its blanket fast moving clouds here.

Dave,

I wonder if it is misalignment in the stacking? If you lasso the brightest part of the core on the unsharpened image and then move it across it matches almost exactly the darker halo to the right? Dust bunnies ruled out for sure.