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Credit & Copyright: Gianluca Masi
(The Virtual Telescope)
Explanation:
What's happening to Comet Holmes?
The rare comet
remains visible to the unaided eyes of northern observers as
an unusual small puff ball in the constellation of
Perseus.
A high resolution set of images of the comet's inner
coma,
taken last week and shown above, reveals significant detail.
Close inspection shows numerous faint streamers that are possibly the result of
jets emanating from the comet's nucleus.
Comet Holmes has remained
surprisingly bright over the past week, with
luminosity
estimates ranging from between visual
magnitudes 2 to 3,
making it brighter than most stars visible on a dark sky.
The above
image
of Comet Holmes
was made with a
small automated 0.38-meter telescope hirable over the web for a small fee.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: comet Holmes - Coma
Publications with words: comet Holmes - Coma
See also: