Comet Lessons – C 17 P / Holmes
My interest in comets started back in 1986 when Comet 1P/ Halley was visible from my back garden in a small unstable telescope. I showed it to several people and ten years later did the same with comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutake in the same small 50 mm telescope on a shaky wooden tripod. April 1997 brought the wonderful Hale Bopp to Irish skies, that was, a truly magnificent naked eye sight. All this time my interest in comets was building but in hindsight for reasons beyond my comprehension I did not record them in sketches only in my memory. Most likely it was bringing up my children that distracted me. Comet Machholz C/2004 Q2 This comet really got me going on comets. I followed it and sketched its path through the sky from December 22nd 2004 until I could no longer see it after the 2nd March 2005. I began observing this grey blob in space with 10X50 Zeiss binoculars … Continue reading →