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<DIV><BR class=3Dkhtml-block-placeholder --Apple-Mail-13--722452082 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Happy to read about your night sky observing. You ARE seeing Mars, by 10:30 the planet is nicely up in the east. It is shining with bright, reddish light in the constellation Gemini, and getting brighter as we get closer to Mars. Tonight Mars is 0.72 AU (about 6 light minutes) from us. We will catch up on Christmas Eve, placing Mars at "opposition" (we are lined up in our orbits with Sun on one side of us and Mars on the side opposite. We will be in between the two, putting Mars high in our midnight sky and the Sun low in our noonday sky, which also brings the distance between Earth's orbit and that of Mars near a minimum, about 0.59 AU (4.8 light minutes). So watch Mars get steadily brighter and higher, earlier, over the next seven weeks. My wife also finds it easier to use Cassiopea to find Holmes. Sherman Sherman Williams shermw@xcountry.tv On 7-Nov-07, at 7:15 PM, Terri Crane wrote: > Hi Sherman > > As always your postings are a very informative and interesting read. > > I've actualy been using the center two stars of Cassiopea as a > pointer to Comet Holmes. > > While out Nov 4th taking advantage of the rare dark sky (provided > by a moonless, cloudless, flat calm, evening with the added bonus > of no light polution because of the power outage) doing some sky > watching and atempting to do some photography. I noticed what I > thought was Mars riseing in the east at around 10:30 pm. is this > Mars returning to the early evening "Winter Night Sky"? > > Thanks for your help > Tom K > Canso > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Sherman Williams > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 6:00 PM > Subject: [NatureNS] Comet Holmes > > If you haven't had a look at Comet Holmes recently, this may be a > good night to have another look, especially in your binoculars. It > has not shifted much; it still forms a nice triangle with the same > two Perseus stars (Alpha and Delta Persei), nicely up in the NE > between 7 and 8 p.m, by midnight the triangle is nearly overhead. > The apparent diameter of the comet has expanded to nearly 2/3 of > the Full Moon diameter. In a dark sky and with the observer having > dark adapted eyes, a faint tail is now beginning to be visible in a > pair of 10 X 50 binoculars. > > Holmes is 1.6 AU away from us (13 minutes at light speed = 13 light- > minutes away). Its actual diameter as we see it in binoculars is a > bit over 1 million km. > > Also, if looking at the comet with binoculars, I suggest a look at > the star field that includes Apha Persei (the bright star just > above Holmes). The bright group of stars form a nice "S" pattern > (tipped over to the right). This is a beautiful cluster of > associated stars, including Alpha Persei, known as Melotte 20. The > group is in the order of 550 light years away. > > If you are in a dark location you will also notice that the Milky > Way (the equatorial view of our galaxy) extends up from Perseus and > angles to the northwest. Located in the Milky Way, just a bit > above Perseus and to the left is a group of 5 bright stars that > form, sort of a "W" tipped side ways to the left. This is > Cassiopea. If you scan between Perseus and Cassiopea, along the > line of the Milky Way, you may see a fuzzy patch of light. > Certainly it is very noticable in binoculars. This is the Double > Cluster of Perseus. These are two open star clusters, each > containing between 150 to 200 suns. The clusters are about 7000 > light years away. > > This is just a bit of the interesting piece of sky Comet Holmes > finds itself in. > > Sherman > > > > Sherman Williams > shermw@xcountry.tv > > > > >> >> > > --Apple-Mail-13--722452082 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 <HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; = -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Happy=A0to read about your night = sky observing. You ARE seeing Mars,=A0 by 10:30 the planet is nicely up = in the east. It is shining=A0 with bright, reddish light in the = constellation Gemini, and getting brighter as we get closer to Mars.=A0 = Tonight Mars is 0.72 AU (about 6 light minutes) from us.<DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>We will catch up on = Christmas Eve, placing Mars at "opposition" (we are lined up in our = orbits with Sun on one side of us and Mars on the side opposite.=A0 We = will be in between the two, putting Mars high in our midnight sky and = the Sun low in our noonday sky, which also brings the distance between = Earth's orbit and that of Mars near a minimum, about 0.59 AU (4.8 light = minutes).=A0 So watch Mars get steadily brighter and higher, earlier, = over the next seven weeks.<DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>My wife also finds it = easier to use Cassiopea to find Holmes.</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Sherman</DIV><DIV>=A0<BR><DIV= > <SPAN class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: separate; = border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; = font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: = normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; = -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; = -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; = white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV>Sherman = Williams</DIV><DIV><A = href=3D"mailto:shermw@xcountry.tv">shermw@xcountry.tv</A></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR = class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN> </DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On = 7-Nov-07, at 7:15 PM, Terri Crane wrote:</DIV><BR = class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"border-collapse: separate; = border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; = font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: = normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; = -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; = -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; = white-space: normal; widows: 2; wor