Comet 17P/Holmes has brightened nearly a million times in the past 2 days and can be seen as a point of light with the naked eyes in Perseus.
October 24, 2007
A nearly unprecedented outburst has raised Comet 17P/Holmes from a 17th-magnitude object visible only through large telescopes into plain view without optical aid. The comet lies in Perseus the Hero and will remain visible all night from most of the Northern Hemisphere.
Amazing! The comet is so bright that I had to do a short exposure not getting the comet overexposured in the photo! A really surprise!
(Total Story:Comet 17P/Holmes Photo Galllery)
E. Holmes (London, England) was a regular observer of the Andromeda galaxy (M31), so he knew the region very well. On the evening of 1892 November 6, with skies that were not very favorable, he finished making a few observations of Jupiter and some double stars with his 32-cm reflector, and then decided to take a quick look at the faint companions of Mu Andromedae and the nearby galaxy M31 before quitting for the night.
2 Comments
August 20, 2008 at 8:49 pm
The comet holmes will come near the sun in 2014. Not long way to go. It is quite amazing. I wonder how the short period comet like Holmes travel to different constellations. We have to launch a space craft to those travelling in different constellations. It will be more helpful to know about various stars and allien life.
October 16, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Most of the non-periodic comets are visible to the naked-eye, because of its large size. But the orbit of those comets don’t allow the comet to visit the inner solar system frequently. Some of them even take thousands of years to make the next visit. But the perihelion passage is not too close when we compare with periodic comets. I’m looking for a titanic non-periodic comet which show its body even at the day time. But it doesn’t happen so often. Few comets like these have passed before. I expect bit more in future.