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

[Jerry]

Hey Biela, let's go Holmes. Meteor storm us!
Jerry Flaherty
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Cc: <MexicoDoug at aol.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 8:09 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fw: Comet 17P (Holmes) Visible Event !


> Hi,
> 
> A history of Holmes at:
> http://cometography.com/pcomets/017p.html
> says it was discovered (1892) in a brilliant "naked-eye"
> outburst but then faded away. Five months later, it 
> brightened again back to a lesser "naked-eye" status.
> It was observed through its 1906 perihelion, but was
> lost thereafter. It was often observed without any coma
> whatsoever. It was recovered in 1964 after Brian Marsten
> recalculated the orbit, as a coma-less condensation and 
> has never shown more than a wisp of coma... until now.
> 
> Hard to imagine that solar heating of volatiles at its great
> distance at irregular intervals could be responsible for
> such brightening. When it was discovered, it was excitedly
> thought to be a recovery of Comet Biela, and we all know
> what happened in Biela-ville. Exposing half the comet to
> sunlight (or a third or a quarter) might do it.
> 
> [For those not up on their comet gossip, the large bright
> Comet Biela broke apart into TWO Comet Bielas, then 
> eventually NO Comet Bielas.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D/Biela]
> 
> 
> Sterling K. Webb
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Chris Peterson" <clp at alumni.caltech.edu>
> To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 6:40 PM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Fw: Comet 17P (Holmes) Visible Event !
> 
> 
> It certainly is remarkable. Fascinating to speculate on just what 
> occurred to throw off what must be a vast amount of material.
> 
> 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 4:10 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
> 
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