Hey Everyone!
This blog is about an unexpected comet explosion! Read on and find out about this amazing and interesting sight!
A comet that has unexpectedly brightened in the past couple of weeks and now is visible to the naked eye is attracting professional and amateur interest.
Comet 17P/Holmes: The comet is exploding and its coma, a cloud of gas and dust illuminated by the sun, has grown to be bigger than the planet Jupiter. The comet is without the tail usually with such celestial bodies but can be seen in the northern sky, in the constellation Perseus, as a fuzzy spot of light about as bright as the stars in the Big Dipper.
Many scientists and astronermers have explained this as "absolutely amazing!" and "truly a celestial surpise!" Until Oct. 23, the comet had been visible to modern astronomers only with a telescope, but that night it suddenly erupted and expanded.
A similar burst in 1892 led to the comet's discovery by Edwin Holmes.
Scientists speculate the comet has exploded because there are sinkholes in its nucleus, giving it a honeycomb-like structure. The collapse exposed comet ice to the sun, which transformed the ice into gas.
One scientist reportedly said this: "What comets do when they are near the sun is very unpredictablebut we expect to see a coma cloud and a tail, but this is more like an explosion, and we are seeing the bubble of gas and dust as it expands away from the center of the blast."
Experts aren't sure how long the comet's show will last, but figure it could be weeks — if not months. Using a telescope or binoculars help bring the comet's details into view, they said. So one night bring out your telescope and find the constellation Perseus!
