New Naked Eye Comet.....!

[JohnP]

Just saw this on UKAI...

A new naked eye comet !!! I just recieved this.....It is currently in
Perseus, near alpha perseii, it's brightest star !


Received the below report from BAA. Comet 17/P Holmes has undergone a
superoutburst, it was predicted to be mag +17 but is now naked eye at +3.8.
Report is below, also see links inc finder chart.

http://www.aerith.net/comet/weekly/current.html
http://www.aerith.net/comet/catalog/0017P/2007.html

BAA electronic bulletin No. 00313

In the past 24 hours, a spectacular event has taken place involving the
periodic comet P/Holmes (17P). Its predicted brightness is about magnitude
17 however last night it was discovered by the Spanish amateur, Juan Antonio
Henríquez Santana to have undergone a tremendous outburst having attained
magnitude 10 at that time (Oct 24 0h UT). It was a similar outburst in 1892
that led to its discovery. Latest reports (Seiichi Yoshida, Oct 24 13h UT)
indicate that it is stellar in appearance and 3RD MAGNITUDE in brightness:
so bright in fact that it is readily visible to the unaided eye. That's
almost one million times brighter than normal ! Fortunately for UK-based
observers the comet is well placed for observation and is visible throughout
the entire night. Its position at 0h UT tonight (Oct 24/25) will be: R.A.
03h 53.0m, Dec. +50 08' Its appearance will probably be that of a fairly
bright naked-eye star moving at an apparent rate of close to 10 arcmin per
day at PA 298 deg. It!
is currently 1.63 AU (245 million km) from the Earth. Observations are
strongly encouraged and should be reported to Jonathan Shanklin, Director of
the Comet Section.


Cheers,  John

[Mike]

And as usual when these things occur it is cloudy and the forecast is for it to remain cloudy for the next week !!! DOH!!