Incredible Comet Bigger than the Sun

[Bob Juch]

A comet that has delighted backyard astronomers in recent weeks after an unexpected eruption has now grown larger than the sun.

The sun remains by far the most massive object in the solar system, with an extended influence of particles that reaches all the planets. But the comparatively tiny Comet Holmes has released so much gas and dust that its extended atmosphere, or coma, is larger than the diameter of the sun.

Full story here

[littlebeast13]

But the comparatively tiny Comet Holmes has released so much gas and dust that its extended atmosphere, or coma, is larger than the diameter of the sun.

Happens everytime I eat at KFC....

lb13

[gsabc]

But the comparatively tiny Comet Holmes has released so much gas and dust that its extended atmosphere, or coma, is larger than the diameter of the sun.

Happens everytime I eat at KFC....

lb13

I get the gas part, but dust??? Or are you talking just the coma?

[earendel]

A comet that has delighted backyard astronomers in recent weeks after an unexpected eruption has now grown larger than the sun.

The sun remains by far the most massive object in the solar system, with an extended influence of particles that reaches all the planets. But the comparatively tiny Comet Holmes has released so much gas and dust that its extended atmosphere, or coma, is larger than the diameter of the sun.

Full story here

I've heard a lot about this but haven't actually been able to see it.

[MarleysGh0st]

I've heard a lot about this but haven't actually been able to see it.

I don't think it's particularly distinguishable from a star without a telescope or at least a good pair of binoculars.

[VAdame]

Poor ol' Sol -- "Plutoed" by this upstart!

On the other hand, Holmes' low density would be considered a
near-perfect vacuum here on Earth!

[VAdame]

I've heard a lot about this but haven't actually been able to see it.

I don't think it's particularly distinguishable from a star without a telescope or at least a good pair of binoculars.

Not quite the case but I don't have time to explain now -- hafta take car to garage -- will post details later.

[earendel]

I've heard a lot about this but haven't actually been able to see it.

I don't think it's particularly distinguishable from a star without a telescope or at least a good pair of binoculars.

Not quite the case but I don't have time to explain now -- hafta take car to garage -- will post details later.

Not to forego Marley but I know that it's supposed to be visible in the constellation Perseus and can be distinguished with the naked eye as a fuzzy object distinct from the stars. However in my case the urban light pollution and overcast skies have made it impossible for it to be seen from my neighborhood.

[tanstaafl2]

I don't think it's particularly distinguishable from a star without a telescope or at least a good pair of binoculars.

Not quite the case but I don't have time to explain now -- hafta take car to garage -- will post details later.

Not to forego Marley but I know that it's supposed to be visible in the constellation Perseus and can be distinguished with the naked eye as a fuzzy object distinct from the stars. However in my case the urban light pollution and overcast skies have made it impossible for it to be seen from my neighborhood.

Difficult to distinguish with a lot of light pollution but if you know where to look a good pair of binoculars wil show that it looks different from a typical star.

Finding it is the challenge unless you have a good dark viewing spot. If it is dark it does look a bit different even to the nekkid eye. And then finding it again with the binocs is a bit of a challenge as well.

[VAdame]

OK -- home now, and hopefully they will reattach my stupid plastic bumper to my stupid plastic wheel well so that a little snag on a parking curb won't pull it off again!!!! [/new-fangled plastic car rant]

'K now.....Comet 17P/Holmes. 2 weeks ago, around Halloween, it was quite visible & not at all star-like, if you knew where to look. Well, perhaps like a very fuzzy star, even with the nude-eye. However, it is fading in brightness even as it expands in size (simply diffusing the brightness over a bigger area of sky, I believe.) So, we may have already seen it at its best.

If you found the bright star Capella, which rises in the northeast in the early evening this time of year, and looked straight up -- you would have seen an almost perfect isosceles triangle, comprising Mirfak (Alpha Persei) at the apex, Delta Persei (I think!) at the lower right -- and a strange, slightly fuzzy new "star" at the lower left. That was Holmes! The 2 stars & the comet were all of a pretty comparable brightness, with Mirfak being the brightest. What a sight, and clearly visible even from my heavily light-polluted front porch! I did a couple of nice "South Oakland Sidewalk Astronomy" nights that week, although Halloween itself was overcast.

However, over the past 2 weeks, the comet has not only spread out & dimmed quite a bit, but it has moved much closer to Mirfak. Isosceles no more! The last time I saw it (Tuesday, as last night was cloudy), it was right next to Mirfak -- still visible naked eye, but I had to look for it if ya know what I mean! I haven't been out to a nice dark-sky site in about 2 weeks so I don't know how much difference it would make (probably would help a lot though.)

Try averted vision -- looking out the side or corner of your eye -- as well as binoculars. Our retinas have more rods (to see light & dark) around the periphery & more cones (color vision) in the center. So averted vision can be helpful when observing "faint fuzzies" like Holmes is now.

Clear & dark skies!