Comet Holmes " Super-Sizing"
May 7th 2008 07:38
Last year comet Holmes made the news is a big way. The seemingly little known comet makes a spectacle of itself practically overnight. Holmes makes a return journey around the Sun every 6.9 years.
Every return journey so far has been rather predictable. Comet Holmes was never a bright comet to start with, so what caused the sudden surge in its appearance?. No other comet in history has ever changed so dramatically in just 36 hours. Although it did have another similar outburst shortly after it was first discovered back in 1892.
While there have been other comets that have erupted in a similar fashion to Holmes but not as dramatically as comet Holmes did last October. The sudden increase in luminosity (a factor of about 400,000 times!) cannot be easily explained.
Ground based telescopes observations show that comet Holmes was emitting water mixed in with other compounds. A series of observations conducted over subsequent nights has shown the nucleus was still intact. Other observations conducted in Infrared had shown a vast dust particle cloud formed around the nucleus. On probable hypotheses is that the Homes was hit by a large meteor, given that the orbit of comet Holmes around the Sun does not take the comet into the dense region of the asteroid belt, this hypotheses has been discounted.
The most likely cause of the sudden outburst was the repeated encounters while approaching the Sun heating and contracting the comet. Over time the pressure had built up beneath the surface of the comet caused a fissure that released massive amounts of water ice and dust into space forming a shroud around the comet. The real cause of the sudden outburst may never be determined.
Early October 2007 Hubble wide view of comet Holmes
Every return journey so far has been rather predictable. Comet Holmes was never a bright comet to start with, so what caused the sudden surge in its appearance?. No other comet in history has ever changed so dramatically in just 36 hours. Although it did have another similar outburst shortly after it was first discovered back in 1892.
Comet 17P/Holmes Hubble Image - November 4, 2007 showing the comet and its nucleus.
Ground based telescopes observations show that comet Holmes was emitting water mixed in with other compounds. A series of observations conducted over subsequent nights has shown the nucleus was still intact. Other observations conducted in Infrared had shown a vast dust particle cloud formed around the nucleus. On probable hypotheses is that the Homes was hit by a large meteor, given that the orbit of comet Holmes around the Sun does not take the comet into the dense region of the asteroid belt, this hypotheses has been discounted.
Comet holmes after "super-sizing as seen through ground based telescopes November 1, 2007"
The most likely cause of the sudden outburst was the repeated encounters while approaching the Sun heating and contracting the comet. Over time the pressure had built up beneath the surface of the comet caused a fissure that released massive amounts of water ice and dust into space forming a shroud around the comet. The real cause of the sudden outburst may never be determined.
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