Sky Shocker: Walking at Sunset? Don’t Miss Comet Holmes

Kevin Costner said, “build it and they will come” and we’ve discovered another quirky theory, “blog it and it will appear”. After blogging about the night sky and posting a few links where walkers can get a quick intro, we learned "a phenomenon unlike anything astronomers have seen" is visible to the naked eye right now!

This weekend (11/3), Boston Globe StarWatch columnist Alan MacRobert along with other media are reporting that Comet Holmes--a “long-forgotten, dormant dirtball”--unexpectedly “burst into view in late October and increased its brightness a million-fold, baffling astronomers and amateur stargazers.” According to KHPO-TV News, “It’s bright enough to be seen through moonlight and the pollution of city lights, the size of half a full moon.” MacRobert says, “Comet Holmes remains visible (for the next week or two) from your doorstep, almost at a glance if you know where to look. Don’t miss it.”

Want to run a background check on the tail-less Comet Holmes and check out the "celestial light show"? Grab the Sky Map that will help you find it easily, find periodic updates at Wikipedia and see photos astronomers from around the world have snapped so far.

SOURCES: Photo - Wikipedia; Comet Releases Dust Clouds, Making it Visible Again – Boston Globe; Urban Comet Astounds Stargazers - KPHO-TV, Phoenix AZ; Quote from the 1989 film, Field of Dreams - book by W.P. Kinsella

Tags: walking at night, astronomy