Holmes history

Interesting details from the BAA Circular about Holmes -

In 1892, at its discovery, it reached 4th magnitude, and was visible
to the naked eye for several weeks. At that time it grew to about 30'
diam, and there was a second outburst a few months later which brought
it back to naked eye visibility.

I read somewhere that it will be in N hemisphere skies for the next 2
years .... could be interesting times ahead!

I got my first look through the telescope tonight (rather aged
Celestron C8) .... without the benefit of Pete's Registax, it's like a
translucent bubble, less distinct at one edge than the other -
presumably that's where the tail is, if anything. What I find awesome
is the sheer size of the thing, when you consider how far away it is,
compared say to the size of the Martian disc at opposition. BAA says
it's roughly a million Km in diameter just now!

Paul
Leigh
Lancs