Comet 17/P-Holmes, is the 17th periodical comet discovered in our solar system.  Discovered by British amateur astronomer Edwin Holmes on November 6th 1892.  

During the comet's 2007 return, it brightened from a magnitude of about 17, to a magnitude 2.8 in a 42 hour period making it have a a star-like appearence visible to the naked eye.  The outburst took place between October 23rd and 24th, 2007.   Comet Holmes continued to appear star-like until October 26th, when it's orbit took it to near opposition with respect to the Earth, making it appear as a bright sphere due to the position of the comet's tail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Holmes

 

ABOUT THE IMAGE

 

This is the first image I had ever taken with a CCD camera.  At the time, all I had was ambition, a Meade DSI Pro II and my only scope was the Celestron C9.25 SCT.  Unknownst to me at the time, I was actually capturing the "core."

 

DATE/TIME:   October 30th, 2007, approximately 10pm

CAMERA:  Meade DSI Pro II

TELESCOPE:  Celestron 235mm SCT @ F/10

EXPOSURES:  16

EXPOSURE LENGTH:  15sec

IMAGE TOTAL EXPOSURE LENGTH:  4min.

 

PROCESSING:

CAPTURE:  Meade Autostar suite

STACKING:  Meade Autostar suite

POST PROCESSING:  Photoshop CS3