Comet Holmes

My friend, Eric, an astrophysicist at Columbia University, has been tracking a very interesting phenomenon: a very bright comet visible with the naked eye, named Comet Holmes. Latest update from Eric: the Ever Expanding Comet Holmes is now Bigger than the Sun!

You can find out more about Comet at the nasa website here: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
or view more pictures at http://spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_holmes_page20.htm?PHPSESSID=3dgje7n9jm4l23gk9pi5tsl135

To learn more about the origin of the comet, you can check out these earlier links he sent me.

Eric wrote:
Comet Fans!

Follow the amazing explosion of Comet Homes with this series of photos and short explanations from Astronomy Picture of the Day:

APOD: 2007 October 26 - Comet Holmes in Outburst

APOD: 2007 October 29 - A Telescopic View of Erupting Comet Holmes

APOD: 2007 November 3 - Golden Comet Holmes

APOD: 2007 November 5 - Comet Holmes Grows a Tail

Currently, Comet Holmes is about 1/3 the size of the moon and has started to grow a tail. It's moving away from the Sun and is now almost 3 times the Earth-Sun distance, but still bright enough to see by unaided eyes from Central Park in NYC last night!

This is all happening now, so go out to a dark area tonight (or the next cloudless night) and look for the fuzzy apparition in the Constellation Perseus (named after the Greek hero who slew the monster, Medusa.)

Here's where to look: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/10862521.html

Enjoy,
Eric

Many thanks to Eric who is always ready to share his passion for the heavens & his zest for life with the rest of us. He is one of the most consistently present people I know and a delight to be around. To read another adventure starring Eric, check out this earlier post.