[BAA Comets] 17P/ Holmes - possible outburst

[Richard Miles]

Many thanks for highlighting this observation Chris.

Some quick facts:
The orbital period of 17P/Holmes is ~6.9 years.
It reached perihelion on 2014 Mar 27.5.

It is therefore currently some 4 months post-perihelion and just 6 weeks 
away from reaching the same point in its orbit as its super-outburst of 
2007.

The parallel with its 1892 discovery outburst is even closer. That outburst 
occurred when the comet was just ~10 days further along in its orbit than 
your observation time on this occasion (2014 July 29.75) indicates.

Observers are strongly urged to carry out follow-up observations!

Richard Miles
BAA

For the record:
Orbital positions (true anomaly angle)
1892 Nov 04     50 deg
2007 Oct 24      61 deg
2014 July 29      46 deg


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bomber2 Panther outbackmanyep at hotmail.com [comets-ml]" 
<comets-ml at yahoogroups.com>
To: "Comets-ML" <comets-ml at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2014 10:18 AM
Subject: [Bulk] [comets-ml] 17P/ Holmes


> Hi all,
>
> I had my first look at 17P last night since early 2008 and I noticed it 
> was quite compact and stellar, I made it out at mag 11.8, DC = 8/9. Was 
> wondering if anyone had an obs on it in the past day or so. Maybe nothing 
> but I thought I'd ask.
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Chris W