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<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- & --Apple-Mail-14--713986984 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed NIGHTWATCH by Terence Dickinson is an excellent resource (would be very practical and useful). Terence has first handl experience with backyard astronomy and has a good feel for relating it to others just getting into "backyard asronomy". Also, I would recommend SkyNews (Terence Dickinson, editor), a Canadian amateur astronomy magazine published every two months. It can be found on some store magazine racks. Don't confuse it with Sky and Telescope which is USA, it is also more expensive and would be a bit overwhelming for the beginner. I've been looking at Comet Holmes this evening. It is certainly a large fuzzy ball. It fits in the same field of view with Aplha Persei and the bright star group associated with it. Altogether it makes a very special binocular view (I'm using 10X 50 binoculars). I suggest that the comet has dimmed slightly, now very close in brightness to Delta Persei, magnitude 3 (the lower star in the triangle). The comet has increased its diameter again from 2 nights ago. When I timed how long it took to cross its diameter in my telescope field it taking between 115 to 117 seconds which makes its angular diameter between 16 and 17 minutes of arc. Tonight it is taking about 133 seconds which works out to about 21 minutes of arc in angular diameter. The Full Moon is about 30 minutes of arc (a half degree) in angular diameter. Sherman Sherman Williams shermw@xcountry.tv On 7-Nov-07, at 8:44 PM, Terri Crane wrote: > Thanks Sherman for the reply. > > I realy need to pick up some sort of guid to the night sky. > > Do you have any sugestions for a simple but informative guid/map to > the night sky. Alexander my 8 year old is already asking questions > that are beyond my knolage and now I feel I need to get better > aquainted with the night sky to answer his questions properly and > not give him the all too easy "just because" answers. I'm hoping > there's something out ther that even he could find fairly easy to > use/navagate by himself. > > Tom K > Canso > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Sherman Williams > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 8:09 PM > Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Comet Holmes > > 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. >