NavList:

In case there are any list members who haven't heard about it...

Last week a small, insignificant object, Comet Holmes, orbiting between Mars
and Jupiter brightened from magnitude 17.5 to magnitude 2.5. That's 15
magnitudes. And since every 5 steps of magnitude represents a factor of 100
in brightness, that means that this little comet is a million times brighter
this week than last week. That's a rather unusual brightening! There's lots
of coverage and observational reports on skyandtelescope.com. This comet is
very easy to observe and now that the 'explosion' is several days old, the
cloud around the comet's nucleus is approaching ten minutes of arc in
diameter. Binoculars or a good sextant telescope will be enough to see it in
some detail, and you can just make out that it is not a star even without
optical aid. The Moon is very bright right now and city lights are always a
nuisance, but this comet's an easy mark since it transits in the middle of
the night. The comet is located in the constellation Perseus which passes
high overheard at around 1 or 2am local time, closer to 2 for most time
zones. The Declination is about 50N so look 40 degrees above Polaris at that
time. In mid-northern latitudes, you'll be looking nearly straight up. Sorry
Australians and other antipodeans --this one is not expected to move into
southern declinations.

-FER

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