Comet Holmes in City Skies
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![[holmes_071027_08_unlabeled.jpg]](holmes_071027_08_unlabeled.jpg)
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Comet Holmes experienced a dramatic outburst in late October 2007, brightening a million-fold and becoming visible to the naked-eye even in light-polluted skies. This photo, taken a couple of nights after the outburst, shows jsut how bright the comet appeared. Even looking over the city lights of Phoenix-Mesa metropolitan area, and with a full moon in the sky (behind the tree on the right), Comet Holmes was visible with the naked eye! It rivaled the nearby star Mirfak, brightest star in the constellation Perseus (alpha Persei, magnitude 1.8.). Position your mouse cursor over the image to show the comet and the constellation.
Date: October 27, 2007
Time: 9:08 p.m. MST
Location: Suburban Phoenix, Arizona
Camera: Olympus OM-1 35mm SLR on fixed tripod
Film: Fuji Provia 100F slide
Focal length: 40 mm
Aperture: f/2
Exposure time: 12 seconds
Scanner: Nikon Coolscan LS-2000