Say what! Startling "new" comet

UPDATE: 8:30 am Thursday - One forecast calls for some clearing tonight! And for a more complete account of Comet Holmes, see the Sky and Telescope article here. If it clears, Perseus - and the comet - will be visible all nght. Still, it helps to have Tivo if you want to also catch the second game of the World Series. If I had to make a choice, I'd take this out-of-this-world event, of course. Hey,the Red Sox play in the World Series several times a century. ;-)

----

When I first saw the report last night I thought someone must be mistaken - or there was another internet hoax in the making. How could a comet brighten nearly a million times in less than 24 hours?

But there is plenty of evidence from all over the world that that is exactly what has happened. Comet Holmes, an object that was an obscure, magnitude 17 blur one day, suddenly brightened about one million times to become a 2.5 magnitude fuzzy star. What happens next is anyone's guess. I don't know if this display is unprecedented, but it sure is unusual. I mean other comets have flared - but this is a huge and incredibly rapid jump.

If it ever clears - and a few days ago both Wednesday and Thursday nights were supposed to be clear, but the latest Clear Sky Clock forecast is now dismal - then you can bet I'm heading out for a look. At last report it looked more like a planet than a comet, but something weird is going on and who knows what will happen next. That's what makes this one fun.

To see the latest pictures and reports from all ove the world, go here. There's a handy chart here as well.

Comet Holmes was discovered in 1892. It's a periodic comet that comes around every seven years or so. It was observed a few times, then lost, then recovered on its return in 1964 and has been followed on each return since then. Many comets are, for all practical purposes, one-time events. They are icy snowballs plunging in from the outer reaches of the solar system. Comets such as Homes (and Halley's Comet and a host of others) have been caught in shorter orbits and stay within the realm of the planets. Some can be traced through their entire orbit, others only come into sight as they get close to the Sun.

The official designation for Comet Holmes is 17P/Holmes (2007). Google that and you may be surprised at the number of references already - most in the last day or two.

For a little perspective, consider that magnitude 17 is out of reach to any amateur instrument except the very largest. Then consider that magnitude 2.5 is just a tad on the dim side of the stars that make up the Big Dipper.