The next meeting of the Flamsteed Society will be in one week’s time on Monday November 5 in the NMM Lecture Theatre. Dr Francisco Diego will be talking about “What the stars have done for us: from Astrology to Astrophysics”. Francisco should be good for his usual fireworks (sorry) — following his last set of instructions to us, I’ve almost completed my own home proton cyclotron, but I have to wait until we empty the cornflakes box before I can cut it up.
We’ll also be running the annual Flamsteed Book Sale on November 5. We’ll have over 200 books on offer, mostly astronomy and popular science but all other kinds of subjects too. The book sale will start at 6:30pm and run until Francisco’s talk starts, resuming afterwards.
The new Flamsteed season is off to a great start. Many of us have already enjoyed a Walk the Willett Way with Dave Rooney, and Tony Sizer’s telescope workshop in September. Robin Catchpole’s lecture on stellar evolution got lots of complimentary comments. You can see reports on all these on the Flamsteed website, www.flamsteed.info.
There are lots more excellent Flamsteed events to come. We’re beginning planning for the Flamsteed Xmas Party on December 3, which features a talk on the star of Bethlehem by Rod Jenkins. Now the clocks have gone back and evenings are decently dark again 
we’re also making arrangements for Flamsteed sessions with the ROG 28-inch Great Equatorial refractor — more later. For details on Flamsteed subs and how to join, see the Flamsteed website.
Comet 17P/Holmes is making quite a splash at the moment. In addition to Das Baskill’s blog, we’ve seen some good observing reports, and Tony Sizer sent in a couple of excellent pics — see the Flamsteed Picture Gallery There’s also a super full Moon photo by John Bartlett — great first effort. Thanks to all!
On October 23, Comet Holmes was a faint comet. A large and very expensive amateur telescope, located far away from light pollution, was required to catch even a glimpse of it. But just 24 hours later, it was almost a million times brighter, and easily visible with the unaided eye – even from London!
While the stars all appear as points of light in the night sky, the comet appears noticeably larger and more diffused, even with the unaided eye (although, the comet currently has no tail).
You can find Comet Holmes throughout the night in the constellation of Perseus. Click on the sky map for a larger version (generated with Stellarium); the red line indicates the plane of our solar system, also the path that the Moon approximately moves along.
For the latest details, see SpaceWeather.com, which also has a frequently updated photo gallery of the comet.
But what has happened to Comet Holmes? Why did it suddenly brighten so much? Maybe part of the surface of the comet has cracked, and the newly exposed (water) ice beneath has been heated by the Sun and turned into a gas that now surrounds the nucleus of the comet.
Comet Holmes was originally discovered in 1892 by Edwin Holmes in London. His discovery was confirmed within days here at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Holmes managed to discover the comet through a very similar event to what is currently occurring. In 1892, it suddenly brightened allowing Holmes to spot it, and it remained visible to the unaided eye for another 3 weeks until it faded away. 75 days later the comet once again brightened to unaided eye brightness!
But what will happen this time? Currently, the cloud of gas that surrounds the comet (which is making it appear so bright) continues to increase in size. The comet now appears larger in the sky than Jupiter, and some suggest that the cloud could appear as large as the Moon – although, if it did, the outermost gas would not be bright enough for us to see with the unaided eye.
So why not pop outside and see if you can spot it yourself?
Look towards the north to find Ursa Major – the back half of which is known as The Plough in the UK, a very familiar set of seven stars. The two front stars of the Plough point upwards towards Polaris, which is always due north. Just to the right of Polaris is the constellation of Cassiopeia, easy to spot thanks to its “W” shape. As you pan down from Cassiopeia, look for a triangle of stars… although, the bottom left of the triangle is Comet Holmes!
There are lots of other interesting (red!) objects in that area of sky, too. If you look up at 11pm (local time), you will notice that the Earth has moved around the Sun enough so that we can once again see the constellation of Orion. Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star, is visible at the top-left of Orion.
To the top-left of Betelgeuse is the very bright Mars, and to the top-right is the red giant star Aldebaran. Above Aldebaran is the cluster of seven stars known as the Pleiades, about the same size as the full Moon, and a beautiful sight through binoculars.
Above Mars is yet another red star, Capella. And coming full circle, above Capella is Comet Holmes.
Comet Holmes is currently over the north of our solar-system, between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars, and is heading towards the extreme of its elliptical orbit.
Don’t forget that our clocks will return to Greenwich Mean Time this Sunday morning (the 28th of October).
This means that we have to turn our clocks backwards one hour… but we do get an extra hour in bed on Sunday morning to make it all worthwhile!
For full details, please see our Time and timekeeping page.
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Help scientists map light pollution between 1 to 15 October and raise awareness about the impact of artificial lighting on the night sky.
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‘Advances in technology suggest scientists are on the verge of being able to detect the presence of small, rocky planets, much like our own, around distant stars for the first time.’
All of the objects mentioned in last month’s guide are still visible throughout October.
However, Jupiter is getting increasingly difficult to observe, now setting just 2 hours after sunset. Look low towards the south-west about one hour after sunset, and it is the brightest object in the sky. Take a look through binoculars, and see if you can spot the four bright Galilean moons that orbit around the planet.
Although we are losing Jupiter until next year, we are gaining Mars, as it wanders across the sky to become more easily visible. By the end of October, Mars is rising in the east as early as 22:30 local time.
Be careful not to get Mars confused with the red giant star Aldebaran, which rises just one hour earlier. Just above Aldebaran is a small cluster of a few hundred stars called the Pleiades. The cluster is also known as the seven sisters, because the brightest seven are visible to the unaided eye within an area the same size as the full moon.
Aldebaran lies about 12 degrees below the Pleiades star cluster – that is the size of your out-stretched hand at arms length – while Mars is far off towards the bottom left of both in the evening eastern sky.
At midnight, another red giant star rises below Aldebaran and to the right of Mars – the bright red giant Betelgeuse.
Betelgeuse is part of the constellation of Orion – the classic winter constellation. Currently, Orion is rising at midnight, but by the end of November, it will have risen by 10pm, all thanks to the Earth moving around the Sun to get a better view of this wonderful constellation! More about Orion next month…
Jason Lewis completed his human-powered circumnavigation at the Royal Observatory, just after 12.30pm today. He and his supporters heaved Moksha, his wooden pedal boat, across the Prime Meridian to mark the occasion.
There are already pictures of the event on Flickr, which we’ve saved as our favourites. Tag your own pictures with the expedition’s preferred tag ‘expedition360′ so we can find and share them.
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“The pips, originally generated from a clock at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, will no longer be accurate because the hi-tech digital broadcasting system being adopted in Britain has a time lag.”
Photo C7817 © National Maritime Museum
Once the clocks go back, at the end of October, we’ll start opening the 28-inch telescope for evening viewings.