Nice costume Casper (APOD 2008 Oct 24)

[emc]

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



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)

[BobStein-VisiBone]

...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?

[emc]

...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, 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.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17P/Holmes

[bystander]

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

[emc]

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??