John Farley
Supporter
Surprised to see no discussion here about Comet Holmes. A couple weeks ago, this comet suddenly brightened by a factor of about 400,000, making it suddenly visible with the naked eye even though it was far from the Sun. (Comets are usually brightest when they make their closest approach to the Sun.) More info and a lot of pictures here:
http://cometography.com/pcomets/017p.html
Apparently the reason for the sudden increase in brightness is that the comet for some reason blew out a large dust cloud, which reflected the sunlight, giving it the more or less round "fuzzball" appearance that it has.
Here is a (not too great, but you get the idea) photo I took a couple nights ago:
http://cometography.com/pcomets/017p.html
Apparently the reason for the sudden increase in brightness is that the comet for some reason blew out a large dust cloud, which reflected the sunlight, giving it the more or less round "fuzzball" appearance that it has.
Here is a (not too great, but you get the idea) photo I took a couple nights ago:
