Amateur Astronomers Chase a Comet

As seen on Astronomy Picture of the Day when twilight sweeps around planet Earth amateur astronomers under clear skies set up their telescopes for another trip into the universe. In this autumn sky view from near Tafresh, a mountainous in Iran, amateur astronomers observes Comet 17P/Holmes which stunned comet watchers On 2007 October 24 when it increased in brightness over half a million times in a matter of hours. The outburst transformed it from an obscure and faint comet quietly orbiting the Sun with a period of about 7 years to a naked-eye comet rivaling the brighter stars in the constellation Perseus. Recorded on October 28 (4 days after the burst), this moonrise view highlights the comet’s dramatic new visibility to the left of bright star Mirfak in perseus. click on the black star=pattern icon above the image to find the comet in Perseus, and to see a telescopic image of the comet made that night by the same telescope in this view.