Comet Draws Stargazers' Attention

Suddenly Brighter Comet Holmes Has Grown Bigger Than Jupiter

(AP)  A comet that unexpectedly brightened in the last couple of weeks and is now visible to the naked eye is attracting professional and amateur interest.

Paul Lewis, director of astronomy outreach at the University of Tennessee, is drawing students to the roof of the Nielsen Physics Building for special viewings of Comet 17P/Holmes.

The comet is exploding and its coma, a cloud of gas and dust illuminated by the sun, has grown to be bigger than the planet Jupiter. The comet lacks the tail usually associated with such celestial bodies but can be seen in the northern sky, in the constellation Perseus, as a fuzzy spot of light about as bright as the stars in the Big Dipper.

"This is truly a celestial surprise," Lewis said. "Absolutely amazing."

Until Oct. 23, the comet had been visible to modern astronomers only with a telescope, but that night it suddenly erupted and expanded.

A similar burst in 1892 led to the comet's discovery by Edwin Holmes.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime event to witness, along the lines of when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 smashed into Jupiter back in 1994," Lewis said.

Scientists speculate the comet has exploded because there are sinkholes in its nucleus, giving it a honeycomb-like structure. The collapse exposed comet ice to the sun, which transformed the ice into gas.

"What comets do when they are near the sun is very unpredictable," Lewis said. "We expect to see a coma cloud and a tail, but this is more like an explosion, and we are seeing the bubble of gas and dust as it expands away from the center of the blast."

Experts aren't sure how long the comet's show will last but estimate it could be weeks if not months. Using a telescope or binoculars help bring the comet's details into view, they said.

[red1530]

It took you long enough to have a story about this. Why wasn''t this posted on October 24?

[iceman_1960]

"It took you long enough to have a story about this. Why wasn"t this posted on October 24?"
- Posted by Red1530 at 11:14 PM : Nov 05, 2007

It took a while to get that phrase "now visible to the naked eye" past the CBS Censors.

[cfin5]

The Comet has a tail. You just can''t see it since it''s coming straight towards us. Getting about time for Wormwood to show up.

[wolf563]

This comet exploded heading this way . What TIME FRAME do we have before chunks of this thing reaches earth .JUST HOW FAST IS IT GOING AND HOW MUCH OR HOW MANY PEICES ARE HEADED FOR US .

[mdc76082]

Unfortunately, the cold front moved into N.C. Texas last night and along with the front came the clouds. My son & I have been out just about every night before last doing some astrophotography and this is the first that we heard of it, but haven''t been able to see it. Maybe it''ll be clear enough tonight.

[iceman_1960]

"Liberals-(Iceman-1960) if you think that CBS.COM is so conservative then why do you even come here?"
- Posted by gunnerv1 at 07:47 AM : Nov 06, 2007

I"ve seldom been to CBS.COM.

CBSNEWS.COM is my hangout.

[rf35]

Sorry to ruin your doom and gloom hopes wolf563, but Holmes'' orbit does not intersect Earth''s at any point.

[nlm2383]

You''ve seen too many movies wolf563... They did not once mention anything about that happening.

[nordeck52]

Simply amazing. And wolf563, the comet is actually heading AWAY from the Sun, not towards it. Also, a link to a picture of the comet''s tail can be found here: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071105.html

[red1530]

The comet''s orbit is between Mars and Jupiter.

[kingreb09]

Please go to amazon.com and type in THE GAME by Jerry Webber and purchase the book entitled THE GAME by Jerry Webber. It is a must read book for the entire family and will make for a wonderful Christmas gift and the proceeds will go to help a homeless. Thaqnk you very much.

[iceman_1960]

Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!

[mrassekh]

wolf563: Since the coment is made up of ice, it probably would melt in our atmosphere. But it''s nice for a change to think of something other than us humans destroying civilization as we know it.

[wolf563]

rf35 :Thanks but it`s not a doom and gloom thing .I was wondering if it had blown into smaller chunks and went in other directions ,posibly towards earth .This should be looked at as it is posible and could happen . It is a fantastic thing to happen and study and would welcome information from informed people . As for all you idiots out there who keep refering to politics in unrelated topics "GET LOST" .I for one come on here to learn , not gripe !!!

[wolf563]

The last thing I read on this stated that there was no tail and that it is a honeycombe type with gas build up from melting as it passed the sun . So if the gas build up exploded was there any discharge of smaller material with a posible orbit nearing earth in the future to be observed .