[RightWhale]

BY KULVINDER SINGH CHADHA
ASTRONOMY NOW
Posted: October 25, 2007

Reports from the amateur astronomers (from as far afield as North America, Spain, Iran and Japan) suggest a golden-hued, fuzzy, star or planet-like appearance, with a bright 20 arcsecond interior surrounded by a greenish coma (suggesting the presence of cyanogen).

The reason for 17P/Holmes sudden brightness may be due to the comet’s core breaking up, or possibly because of a collision with an unseen object

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Could have seen this from Fairbanks last night had I known to look. Not far from Capella.

[BenLurkin]

I’ve never heard of a comet exploding in space. Tried researching it on Google but all the links were to explosions in our atmosphere.

[BenLurkin]

“Comet Holmes is not alone in exhibiting anomalous effects. In the past, other comets have undergone unexpected outbursts in brightness. And this is probably not the first outburst for Comet Holmes: when it was discovered in 1892, it was likely in outburst mode, since it became as bright as fourth magnitude and was dimly visible to the naked eye.”