Last night was very clear, so I dragged everything out to see what Comet 17P Holmes has been up to during the last 17 days.

It has moved closer to Mirfak (Alpha Persei). It has also grown in size quite significantly, now it is about the same size as the full Moon. This has however lead to a slight reduction in brightness.

It does however now look more comet-like and less like a planetary nebula.

The photo below was taken using a 22mm lens, and gives you a rough idea of what Comet 17P Holmes (centred) looks like in the sky. A fuzzy blob.

Comet 17P Holmes

Below shows the area taken with a 55mm lens, this nicely shows the open cluster of which Mirfak is a member. This is similar to what you can expect in binoculars.

Comet 17P Holmes and Perseus

A 90mm lens is used on the image below, which has also been cropped to the area around Mirfak.

Comet 17P Holmes and Mirfak

Finally an image using my TAL 2M reflector, this gives an effective focal length of 1200mm.

Comet 17P Holmes

Higher resolution versions are available in the gallery.