Attention Comet Watchers
European and Asian astronomers have reported an overnight brightening in the usually dim Comet 17P/Holmes. The comet has increased in brightness by a factor of 400,000 !!
It's normal brightness of 17th magnitude (requiring > 60 second exposures on telescopes such as FT North) has increased to become an easily visible object of 3rd magnitude.
The comet is presently in the constellation of Perseus, just below the familiar 'W' shape of Cassiopeia. Perseus can be found in the northeastern part of the northern hemisphere sky in the early evening, moving to near overhead around 1AM local time, and in the northwestern sky towards dawn.
The comet can be seen by the naked eye as a bright yellow 'star', but a pair of binoculars should reveal the fuzzy corona surrounding the comet. At present, the comet lacks a tail, which makes many comets so distinctive in our skies. It was discovered by Edwin Holmes in November 1892, and at its normal brightness of 17th magnitude is 25,000 times too faint for the naked eye.
It's not known why Comet Holmes has experienced such an outburst. It made its closest approach to the Sun in May, coming no closer than 191 million miles. The comet is now moving away from the Sun and currently is around 150 million miles from the Earth. It takes just under seven years to orbit the Sun.
An applet showing the comets trajectory can be seen here
A recent ephemeris for Comet Holmes
