FTN observes Comet Holmes 17/P

Since last week (25 October 2007) Comet Holmes has attracted much attention. The comet has ejected a large chunk of material, which resulted in the previously quite dim object brightening by 400,000 times! The reason for this explosive outburst is still unknown but is thought to have been due to a meteoroid strike.

Users of FTN have been keen to assist the global effort to better understand this phenomenon by adding their observations.

Comet and Asteroid expert, Professor Alan Fitzsimmons (Queens University, Belfast and regular observer on FTN) was quoted as saying "On a smaller scale, it is like the Earth suddenly threw off its crust.", in a BBC online news article.

Below is an image of comet Holmes taken by Planetarium and Astronomical
Observatory in Lodz, using FTN, R filter for 3 s. You can clearly see
the nucleus and huge plume of ejecta.