During breaks in the clouds, I observed the comet on Friday night with the ASH 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain and 5" f/5 achromatic finder scope. The coma was bigger than the largest possible true field of view the 17" can produce, which is approximately 26 arc minutes. I could see the pseudonucleus through the 17". A hint of a tail extended from the ragged, trailing end of the coma. There were well over a dozen stars visible within the coma. Magnifications of 118, 144, 162, 202, and 249x were used.
I also viewed 17P/Holmes at low power (18x) with a 108mm f/4.2 Edmund Scientific Astroscan and with my 8x42 Celestron binocular. The comet was visible to my unaided eye only with the use of averted vision.
Dave Mitsky
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
