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Author	Topic: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
Isbeth Title: Maryland FanForce Hospitality Mistress Registered: Aug '01	Date Posted: 10/26/07 1:30pm Subject: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	I had been discussing this with friends all day and decided to turn to the Senate for information. In case you haven't heard, a dim, unexciting comet has suddenly brightened considerably in the sky in the constellation of Perseus. For information you can go to this website on Spaceweather.com and look at pictures that amateur astronomers are taking from around the world: http://www.spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_holmes_page2.htm There is also a great deal of information listed there explaining background information about this comet. Now the question is why has it gotten brighter? Is it breaking apart or did it hit something or what? You might like to post links to news stories on it you may have read about it that foster ideas as the comet is getting a lot of press in the astronomy world. For background, I am teaching astronomy at the high school level and run a small planetarium in a high school. I could discuss this on the astronomy.com forums, but was curious to see if the Senate had knowledgable participants in astronomy. Plus it isn't as busy here, so go to it. I will check back on j'all later. -----signature----- "We are not saints, but seekers", Obi Wan quoting Jedi wisdom in THE DARK RIVAL, J.A. # 2. "I want to see the color of your eyes in the wind at my side"-Xanatos in Ashes by Lia Jinn Inside Outer Space, Visit Your Local Planetarium. Gold 2,Lt.Colonel,EUDF
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Mr44 Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 10/26/07 1:36pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	Issie! How have you been? You know, I haven't heard anything about this. You're probably the most knowledgeable person here on the boards. What's the prevailing opinion being bantered between you and your colleagues? Is there anyone else with an interest in Astronomy that can discuss this as well? -----signature----- When you enter a room full of armed men, shoot the first person who makes a move- hostile or otherwise He has started to think and is therefore dangerous... -- Colonel "Paddy" Mayne, co-founder of the SAS
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Isbeth Title: Maryland FanForce Hospitality Mistress Registered: Aug '01	Date Posted: 10/26/07 2:49pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	Thank you Mr. 44 for your warm welcome. Give my best to your brother and please tell him we had so much fun in Baton Rouge that planetarium folks are headed back there for a bigger conference in 2010, "The International Year Of Astronomy". We will also be going to Lafayette, LA in July 2008. My aren't we brave! It is pouring here and has been cloudy since this story broke, but many folks are viewing the comet and puzzling over it. This comet having been discovered in the 1800's was lost for 60 years! It has also exhibited this brighting behavior before. Astronomers can't explain it, just look at it and wonder at this point. Normally comets brighten and break apart when near the sun, but this comet is no where near the sun. I posted this here, because I didn't want a whole lot of "Duh, it's a UFO" stuff. -----signature----- "We are not saints, but seekers", Obi Wan quoting Jedi wisdom in THE DARK RIVAL, J.A. # 2. "I want to see the color of your eyes in the wind at my side"-Xanatos in Ashes by Lia Jinn Inside Outer Space, Visit Your Local Planetarium. Gold 2,Lt.Colonel,EUDF
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VadersLaMent Registered: Apr '02	Date Posted: 10/26/07 2:59pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	The best explanation I heard was that the icy core of the comet is exposed. I have no idea if math would support a million fold increase in brightness, but it sounded plausable. It could be an impact, but this increase in brightness has happened with this comet in the past. It could be an alien beacon telling us to come have a look, then we get there and a doomsday antimatter bomb goes off with a shaped shielded side that sends the radiation our way with a beam-like quality. This is not what it is but would make for good fiction. -----signature----- Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic--Arthur C. Clarke Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God--Michael Shermer I am a sexy, shoeless GOD OF WAR!
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Mr44 Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 10/26/07 3:04pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	Could the core expose itself years ago and then reconstitute its own covering? -----signature----- When you enter a room full of armed men, shoot the first person who makes a move- hostile or otherwise He has started to think and is therefore dangerous... -- Colonel "Paddy" Mayne, co-founder of the SAS
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VadersLaMent Registered: Apr '02	Date Posted: 10/26/07 3:07pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	Either that or there is some rotation of the comet so the exposure is covered or turned away from us. -----signature----- Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic--Arthur C. Clarke Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God--Michael Shermer I am a sexy, shoeless GOD OF WAR!
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ShaneP Registered: Mar '01	Date Posted: 10/26/07 3:39pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	Either that or there is some rotation of the comet so the exposure is covered or turned away from us. Good explanation. -----signature----- It was as if a million middle-aged virgins just farted with rage and were suddenly silenced.
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Isbeth Title: Maryland FanForce Hospitality Mistress Registered: Aug '01	Date Posted: 10/26/07 4:22pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright? - Date Edited: 10/26/07 4:31pm (2 edits total) Edited By: Isbeth
	I just don't go for the rotation hypothesis. This thing was dim, 17th. magnitude (only visible to large telescopes) for weeks, then bam, it brightens tremendously and then looks weird, yellow green. I am thinking it was either hit by something or began to break apart. This would explain the dust particles haloing it. Kind of like what happened to that comet we hit with Deep Impact a while back. Reports are saying it is showing structures kinda like that of Hale-Bopp as it rotated and left dust and gas jets. Wish I could take a look for myself, it is darn cloudy, here. Edit: Nice to see VadersLaMent here! I know he's a space enthusiast! Now if we could get Everton in on this. Maybe the sky is clear in England. BTW, here is what is being said in Sky and Telescope Magazine -----signature----- "We are not saints, but seekers", Obi Wan quoting Jedi wisdom in THE DARK RIVAL, J.A. # 2. "I want to see the color of your eyes in the wind at my side"-Xanatos in Ashes by Lia Jinn Inside Outer Space, Visit Your Local Planetarium. Gold 2,Lt.Colonel,EUDF
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timmoishere Registered: Jun '07	Date Posted: 10/26/07 6:39pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	It's a weapon of mass destruction. Saddam is building them out in the Oort Cloud. -----signature----- What ain't no country I ever heard of. They speak English in What? Vikings > Pirates > Ninjas Everything tastes better wrapped in bacon, especially bacon 11/20/2008: The day I married the most wonderful woman in the world
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Lowbacca_1977 Title: Senate Moderator Registered: Jun '06	Date Posted: 10/26/07 6:59pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	I've not had a chance to see for myself, but my money is on it just breaking up. (Master's student in Physics, B.S. in astrophysics, guide at an observatory, and T.A. astronomy classes. No research experience though on this stuff, but a general background.) I highly doubt that its a rotation-based effect, since a comet should be rotating relativly fast. Halley's comet, for example, is rotating at a rate of once over about 2 days. Anything that was going to be caused only by rotation would, I think, be observed much more frequently. I also think if its not rotating, then at some point later in the trajectory the other sides would become exposed. The two things it comes down to is new surfaces becoming exposed either by impact or by breaking up. I'd think if its the latter that that should be observable, though I've not heard anything one way or the other on that. Though the issue with either of those is I'm not offhand aware with what sort of change in brightness would be seen from a comet breaking up, if at all. For Deep Impact, there were some reports of a magnitude or two, but thats nowhere near the 13 magnitude increase that we've seen with Holmes. Now, that could mean that maybe it was just a bigger impact, or some difference in composition which means it brightens more (which could effect either possibility) and could also explain the difference in observed colour. I pick that its breaking up simply because of the astronomical odds against a comet actually being impacted. Or, given the observed behavoir, perhaps the comet has gone supernova, as those also increase in brightness greatly.
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Everton Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 10/27/07 10:01am Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	Thanks for letting me know about this thread, Isbeth. Alas it has been cloudy recently, and will be tonight. Looking at the predicted weather, I might get a clear spell tomorrow evening. -----signature----- efc = 6th Everton vs Hull City - 10th January Liverpool vs Everton - 19th January Liverpool vs Everton - 24th January
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Obi-Zahn Kenobi Registered: Aug '99	Date Posted: 10/27/07 10:27pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	"A doomsday bomb . . . " -----signature----- christus moriebat christus resurrexit christus aderit iterum
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Everton Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 10/29/07 12:53pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	Duh, it's a UFO!!! Saw it tonight. Just spent an hour or so observing it. Splendid, innit? I love how the core resolves slightly to one side. What appears to be the cure at lower resolutions isn't the core! It's certainly the most peculiar comet I've seen in some time. It's like some's lit a spark onboard. I struggled to determine much of the yellow colour that others have reported. I almost preferred observing it at lower resolutions. The coma is almost crisp against the dark sky. You don't often get to see such clear distinctions as that. Like someone drew it with a compass and pencil. Plus, the 'core' appears as a pinprick at lower resolutions. Jewel. -----signature----- efc = 6th Everton vs Hull City - 10th January Liverpool vs Everton - 19th January Liverpool vs Everton - 24th January
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VadersLaMent Registered: Apr '02	Date Posted: 10/29/07 1:25pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	-----signature----- Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic--Arthur C. Clarke Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God--Michael Shermer I am a sexy, shoeless GOD OF WAR!
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Everton Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 10/29/07 1:32pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	Dang it perhaps my conditions weren't helping with the colours. It's sharp clear outside tonight, but someone had a bonfire nearby. I'll try again later. -----signature----- efc = 6th Everton vs Hull City - 10th January Liverpool vs Everton - 19th January Liverpool vs Everton - 24th January
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Isbeth Title: Maryland FanForce Hospitality Mistress Registered: Aug '01	Date Posted: 10/29/07 1:37pm Subject: RE: Comet Holmes: Any Idea On What Made it So Bright?
	I got to see it in my backyard with 10 x 50 binoculars. As Everton says, it sure looks funny. Strangest comet I ever saw. I could see a definite yellow color. It was pretty round. Thanks also to Lowbacca_1977 for his thoughtful comments. I thought this picture on Spaceweather.com gives some perspective as to how big the thing looks through a telescope, compared with an image of Jupiter. -----signature----- "We are not saints, but seekers", Obi Wan quoting Jedi wisdom in THE DARK RIVAL, J.A. # 2. "I want to see the color of your eyes in the wind at my side"-Xanatos in Ashes by Lia Jinn Inside Outer Space, Visit Your Local Planetarium. Gold 2,Lt.Colonel,EUDF
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