Comet 17P/Holmes [
http://cometography…] stunned comet watchers [
http://www.spacewea…gallery_holmes.html ] across planet Earth earlier this week. On October 24, it increased in brightness over half a million times in a matter of hours. The outburst [
http://www.skyandte…10775326.html ] transformed it from an obscure and faint comet quietly orbiting the Sun with a period of about 7 years to a naked-eye comet rivaling the brighter stars in the constellation Perseus [
http://spaceweather…skymap_north_holmes. gif ]. Recorded on that date, this view from Tehran, Iran highlights the comet's (enhanced and circled) dramatic new visibility in urban skies. The inset (left) is a telescopic image [
http://www.avertedi…17P_Holmes102407.htm l ] from a backyard in Buffalo, New York showing the comet's greatly expanded coma [
http://www.nasa.gov…], but apparent lack of a tail. Holmes' outburst [
http://www.aerith.n…2007.html ] could be due to a sudden exposure of fresh cometary ice or even the breakup of the comet nucleus [
http://www.ifa.hawa…]. The comet may well remain bright in the coming days.
Explanation
Comet 17P/Holmes [
http://cometography…] stunned comet watchers [
http://www.spacewea…gallery_holmes.html ] across planet Earth earlier this week. On October 24, it increased in brightness over half a million times in a matter of hours. The outburst [
http://www.skyandte…10775326.html ] transformed it from an obscure and faint comet quietly orbiting the Sun with a period of about 7 years to a naked-eye comet rivaling the brighter stars in the constellation Perseus [
http://spaceweather…skymap_north_holmes. gif ]. Recorded on that date, this view from Tehran, Iran highlights the comet's (enhanced and circled) dramatic new visibility in urban skies. The inset (left) is a telescopic image [
http://www.avertedi…17P_Holmes102407.htm l ] from a backyard in Buffalo, New York showing the comet's greatly expanded coma [
http://www.nasa.gov…], but apparent lack of a tail. Holmes' outburst [
http://www.aerith.n…2007.html ] could be due to a sudden exposure of fresh cometary ice or even the breakup of the comet nucleus [
http://www.ifa.hawa…]. The comet may well remain bright in the coming days.
Explanation
