Nice costume Casper (APOD 2008 Oct 24)

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emc
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Nice costume Casper (APOD 2008 Oct 24)

Post by emc » Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:28 pm

When I first looked at today’s APOD, I thought of Halloween.

Image

Holmes has traveled a long way from us but it left a huge question mark in its wake. What caused it to have that outburst? Maybe there is or was containerized material under pressure and the container simply eroded to the breaking point as it moved close to Earth.

My very first imagining, was… uh oh, a signal flare to attack! The time is right to wipe out the humans! They’re dangerously close to invading our outer inner space space.

But since we’re still here… I’m going with astrophysical phenomenon… and leave it at that.

Thank you Tony Cook for such a beautiful picture. This APOD captures the mystery of outer space with the ghostly appearances of the comet and its separated tail... way cool. 8)
Ed
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BobStein-VisiBone
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Re: Nice costume Casper - (APOD 20081024)

Post by BobStein-VisiBone » Fri Oct 24, 2008 7:08 pm

emc wrote:...Holmes has traveled a long way from us but it left a huge question mark in its wake...
Does anyone know, can we expect to see 17P/Holmes up close in 2014 and resolve some of the mysteries? Will Caspar still be friendly when he returns?

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emc
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Re: Nice costume Casper - (APOD 20081024)

Post by emc » Sun Oct 26, 2008 12:54 pm

BobStein-VisiBone wrote:
emc wrote:...Holmes has traveled a long way from us but it left a huge question mark in its wake...
Does anyone know, can we expect to see 17P/Holmes up close in 2014 and resolve some of the mysteries? Will Caspar still be friendly when he returns?
Hi BobStein-VisiBone,

By the crickets chirping, :wink: I suspect there isn’t a probe intercept planned. You can bet Holmes’ return will draw a crowd though.

Based on its outburst, I wonder if it is closing in on self-destruction.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17P/Holmes
Ed
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Post by bystander » Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:33 pm

NASA's Spitzer Gets Sneak Peek Inside Comet Holmes
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitz ... 81013.html

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Post by emc » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:46 pm

Thanks bystander, the Enhanced Contrast image is fascinating. Another outer space mystery... the shell and filaments not reacting to the sun's radiation implies the phenomenon is sustained by pressure out of the nucleus and/or more massive than typical particles??

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Ed
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