Homing in on Comet Holmes

Last week, I read about a periodic comet, 17P/Holmes, that surprised observers worldwide by ejecting some of its mass and becoming thousands of times brighter on Octber 24. People are also abuzz over the fact that this comet, despite its activity, has yet to produce a tail.

Comt 17P/Holmes grew brighter for a week, but it appears to have dimmed a bit in the last couple of days. It's still possible to pick it out, even in a washed-out, urban sky. Here's what I saw from Gimhae, which is not too far from Korea's second-largest city.


Comet 17P/Holmes is about 150 million miles away and it can be found near the constellation Perseus about an hour after sunset. The comet was discovered by Edwin Holmes in 1892. Its period of orbit is about seven years. I'll be interested to see if it produces more tricks as it approaches the Sun this time around.