Look Out For Comet Homes

Monday, October 29, 2007

Last week the normally very faint Comet Homes underwent a major outburst and is now around a million times brighter than expected, making it easily visible to the unaided eye.

Comet Homes is currently visible in front of the stars of the constellation of Perseus and looks set to stay bright for some days or even weeks.

The comet was discovered by amateur astronomer Edwin Homes in November 1892. It takes a little under 7 years to complete an orbit around the Sun. At its closest to the Sun (perihelion) it is still twice as far away as the Earth - around 300 million km from our local star - and is always located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Most of the time Comet Homes is extremely faint and only visible in large telescopes. This outburst is completely unexpected and the comet has also greatly increased in size. Through a pair of binoculars it now looks like a large fuzzy object with a sharper core.

The comet is seen at its best in dark skies, away from the light pollution of major cities.

This Image was taken by John Crilly from the Urban Observatory.

For a Hi-Res Version: SFL ORG. Gallery

To learn more about: John Crilly and the Urban Observatory

Source: RAS, John Crilly

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Time Stamp: 10/29/2007 at 11:30:08 AM CST

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