[meteorite-list] Fw: Comet 17P (Holmes) Visible Event !

[Walter Branch]

Hi Doug,

You are right.  This is a phenomenal event!

First a supernova in NGC 7721 and now this comet suddenly brightens by 
several magnitudes.

Unfortunately, all I have at present is a great view of the
Great Cloudy (and rainey) Nebula.

-Walter Branch
(listing more meteorites on ebay)
________________________
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "mexicodoug" <mexicodoug at aol.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 6:10 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fw: Comet 17P (Holmes) Visible Event !


> Sure, and my questions were rhetorical more than anything else (not to 
> compare to Halley's Comet's size, or anything like that - they are miracle 
> specific).  What would the wise kings in Biblical times have made of this? 
> (rhetorical)
>
> However, coma aside, a (now) 500,000 times increase in a few short hours 
> is quite remarkable by any standard - especially for something so far 
> away, and what has gone into this.  This is not your typical comet event 
> as you know and is completely exploding off any graph for how magnitudes 
> of comets normally evolve - that is at the heart.
>
> This event will go down as one of the most spectacular, if not the most 
> spectacular, of its kind ever observed.  If not for the prior much lesser 
> outburst recorded for this comet, I would be more inclined to think it was 
> an impact, than anything else.  This is a comet that  at closest approach 
> to the Sun only makes a Vesta (Main belt asteroid, maximum concentration 
> zone) distance.  It virtually appeared out of nowhere into not only the 
> eyepiece, but also the naked eye at 2.4+ AU.  Nonetheless, your point 
> about the coma is well accepted.
>
> I am blown away by rate at which it happened as the comet was already very 
> well far on its way out. and after all, it is traveling at 2.2 Km/s.
> Best wishes,
> Doug
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Chris Peterson" <clp at alumni.caltech.edu>
> To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 4:33 PM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fw: Comet 17P (Holmes) Visible Event !
>
>
>> The size of the comet core is largely irrelevant. What matters is the 
>> size of the coma, since that's what is reflecting the light. And an 
>> active comet can easily have a coma many times larger than Mars. In 
>> reality, active comets are amongst the largest objects in the Solar 
>> System, even though their cores are amongst the smallest.
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> *****************************************
>> Chris L Peterson
>> Cloudbait Observatory
>> http://www.cloudbait.com
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "mexicodoug" <mexicodoug at aol.com>
>> To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>> Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 3:20 PM
>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fw: Comet 17P (Holmes) Visible Event !
>>
>>
>>> Hi Again Listees,
>>>
>>> With regards to Comet 17P (Holmes) estimated at under 3.5 Km in 
>>> diameter, and being twice as far from the Earth as the planet Mars:
>>>
>>> How could it be one sixteenth as bright as Mars and an easy object in 
>>> the night sky with an almost Full Moon?  No doubt it has a lot of ice 
>>> crystals or something white and reflective.  A rought thought says that 
>>> in absolute terms it is one fourth the brightness of Mars if they were 
>>> at the same distance from us!  This is because we perceive only 1/4 of 
>>> the light intensity due to the doubling of distance,
>>>
>>> It is it is hard to avoid the temptation of thinking this tiny body is 
>>> of relatively pristine material now confined to the Asteroid belt, but 
>>> before, from the Outer Solar System, and may, for once, given Jupiter 
>>> his dues, have been affected by a relatively close pass to the inner 
>>> Solar System, with Venus, Earth and Mars all aligned this month to exert 
>>> their gravitational attraction together.  Not to mention all of the 
>>> scientists and collectors who would will material to Earth.
>>>
>>> The comet is over 40% further away from Earth as it is from Mars at the 
>>> moment, so I hope the guys with their hands on the controls of the Mars 
>>> rovers take a break and look up for us at MidSolnight, and that the Deep 
>>> Impact Crew is already into emergency overdrive to make the comparison 
>>> they will be held accountable for, now that there is a second chance 
>>> :-)...
>>>
>>> Best Skies and great health,
>>> Doug
>>
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>
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