8P Tuttle 1/5/2008

A rare window of clear skies allowed me to finally get a look at 8P
Tuttle from a dark country road 20 miles NW of Rochester, NY. I
starhopped down from Aries into Pisces and had no trouble locating the
comet in 10x50 binoculars, about 15 deg above the horizon. A soft
round globular like glow with a brighter non steller coma, I estimated
between mag 6 - 7. It might have been my only chance here in the
cloudy Great Lakes . I'm hoping to get another look from more
southern skies early next month, when I make a trip to the
Philippines.
Despite my best efforts, I could not spot P17 Holmes. The first time
since the comet's outburst back in October that I couldn't locate it
in binoculars.

Bill Ruscher Jr.

On Jan 5, 12:34*pm, " wrote:

Despite my best efforts, I could not spot P17 Holmes. The first time
since the comet's outburst back in October that I couldn't locate it
in binoculars.

I took a quick a look this evening. Holmes is still visible to the
naked eye as a fairly large, diffuse glow without difficulty from my
6.5 NELM sky. Sky conditions (particularly the Naked Eye Limiting
Magnitude) are likely becoming increasingly significant due to the
comet's increasing size and its decreasing brightness per unit area.
I'm somewhat surprised that this comet has remained so prominent for
so long.

Bill Greer
To sketch is to see.