Holmes comet

[4C-696E]

For the last couple of nights/early mornings, I've seen a bright star in the sky that had not been there before. It was as bright or brighter than a typical sighting of Venus or Mars, and is not along the path where the planets would be seen. This morning on the way to work, on the radio, they mentioned that object and the website, spaceweather.com and I had to check it out. On the main page, it talks about the 'bright star' and how it is actually an unusual comet without a visible tail. The pictures are cool, showing how it is yellow in the center, with a green fringe. Here's a quote from that site:

Comet Holmes shocked sky watchers with a spectacular eruption, brightening almost a million-fold from 17th to 2.5th magnitude in a matter of hours. The comet is now visible to the naked eye--even from light polluted cities--high in the northern sky after sunset.

I can vouch for it being visible even in cities. It's located in the sky in the Perseus constellation. Here's the finder chart

They also mentioned on the radio that the bright full moon in the sky is 12% larger than normal because it is closer to the Earth, but I was more interested in the comet.

[Man in Black]

Wow! Thanks a million for putting up this post 4C. *Dishes out Karma* I saw this thing when I was outside star gazing the other night. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was. I was sure that it was too bright to be anything I'd seen before and it wasn't moving so I didn't think it was a manmade object.

That's crazy that they don't even know what is causing it to brighten. We'll have to stay updated on this one.

[4C-696E]

Most definately.

[Xenopaul]

I will have to look tonight to see if I can see it

maybe its aliens

[4C-696E]

I've found another website that has a bit of a record of the progress of the comet.

www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/10775326.html

The thing has gotten even larger and a bit brighter. I was able to see it through the reflections of things in the break room at work, and through a hazy morning sky when I was on break about a half hour ago. It's still dark here now around 7:00 AM.

This is exciting for me to be reading about this comet.

I'm going to look at other results from a Google search for "Holmes Comet" and see what else I can learn.

[Man in Black]

Photo by Tim Hickman, an amateur astronomer in Timonium



Here is some info about the comet's discovery from Wikipedia
The comet was discovered by Edwin Holmes on November 6, 1892 whilst conducting regular observations of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). When first discovered in 1892, the comet was undergoing magnitude changes similar to the 2007 outburst. 17P/Holmes brightened to about magnitude 4 or 5 and then faded over several weeks.


I still haven't been able to see it again. The moon has been sooo bright directly overhead here. I will try again tonight later.

[4C-696E]

I was going to show my husband where it is, but we've had clouds roll in and can't even see the moon through them. There's a picture of it now with 2 bright spots like eyes, which are really stars glowing through the cloudy debris around the comet. On the first site I linked to, it's under Goblin Comet.

[4C-696E]

xenopaul said:

maybe its aliens

You've got to check out the latest picture at that first site I linked to. It is PERFECT for Halloween! It's awesome! I've got to download it today when I get home from work! Let's see if I can put it in here...


Yes! It worked! Isn't that COOL! That's a picture of the comet taken last night.

[Man in Black]

Yikes that's FREAKY!

[4C-696E]

Halloween night, I actually looked in the sky using the finder map and realised the bright 'star' I thought was the comet isn't it. I was able to see it, but it hadn't dawned on me that in wintertime, planets appear more north than normal. The real bright one I see in mornings is Venus. But, as I said, I saw the comet. It twinkles. I really wish that I had even binoculars, or better yet, a telescope. It's still awesome. And the comet's 'cloud' is still expanding!

[4C-696E]

There were some other things going on in the sky this morning. Read about it here as well as see new pictures and updates on the spaceweather.com site linked to in the first post.

The cresant moon and Venus were quite a sight to see this morning, I got my husband outside at 5:20 am in his PJ's and bare feet to see it (he was awake anyway to see me off to work). Spectacular!

[Man in Black]

A couple nights ago we had perfect comet viewing conditions. I went out at about 5:30 and located the Holmes Comet. I dragged Marii out of bed and we looked at it through binoculars. It appeared as a misty green ball.

*Geeks out*

[4C-696E]

I just checked spaceweather.com and right now, there's a picture of the comet someone took without a telescope. Just left the shutter open for 27 seconds, and it's a lot more clear a picture than I get with my eyes looking at it. The pic shows how big it really is in the sky!

[4C-696E]

Holmes Update from www.spaceweather.com :

"Formerly, the sun was the largest object in the Solar System," says University of Hawaii astronomer David Jewett. "Now, Comet 17P/Holmes holds that distinction." On Nov. 9th, a team of Hawaii astronomers led by Rachel Stevenson measured the diameter of the comet's expanding debris cloud: 1.4 million kilometers, slightly larger than the sun itself."

This comet is larger than the sun now!

[Man in Black]

I'm just glad it's not as strong and bright as the sun or we'd be toast!