What should not be confused with comet holmes?”
Comet Holmes (official designation: 17P/Holmes) is a periodic comet in our solar system, discovered by the British amateur astronomer Edwin Holmes on November 6, 1892. Although normally a very faint object, Holmes became notable during its 2007 return when it temporarily brightened by a factor of about half a million, in what was the largest known outburst by a comet, and became visible to the naked eye. It also briefly became the largest object in the solar system, as its coma (the thin dissipating dust ball around the comet) expanded to a diameter greater than that of the Sun (although its mass remained minuscule).[1] Comet Holmes was discovered by Edwin Holmes on November 6, 1892 while he was conducting regular observations of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Its discovery in 1892 was possible because of an increase in its magnitude similar to the 2007 outburst; it brightened to an approximate magnitude of 4 or 5 before fading from visibility over a period of several weeks.[2] The comet’
A couple days ago I got my first look at Comet Holmes. I blogged about how easy it was to find, making a backward L shape in Perseus. As Comet Holmes is moving, the shape is starting to look more like a J. If you take into account the brighter stars in Perseus, they will appear to make a shape like a J or a fish hook. The tip of the hook is Comet Holmes. It has slid upward from where it was just a few days ago. A lot of people have the mistaken belief that a comet is moving so fast that it can be seen scooting across the sky. This idea is often fed by incorrect cartoons and illustrations. While Comet Holmes is definitely moving, it is not moving so fast that you can see motion on a single night. But each night as you come back to look at it, you will see it has changed position slightly, evidence that it is indeed in motion. At last observation, Comet Holmes still does not have a tail, but it does have a very fuzzy shape in binoculars and a telescope, giving away the fact that it is no
