Hubble probes a comet's heart

Concerned Citizen — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:08:47 GMT

And there shall be signs in the heavens!

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Look up — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:49:02 GMT

There have been signs in the heavens throught the entirety of human history. Only now we know what they are.

So don't be concerned. Go out and look, the comet is quite a sight.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Lou — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:28:46 GMT

And there have been "signs" for many years past and many years to come. Stop quoting your fiction, this is science.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Eric, Snohomish — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:33:11 GMT

Holmes is definetly a breakthrough! Thank the gods for the Hubble! When are we putting a scope on the ISS?

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Andy, DeKalb, Il — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:33:48 GMT

Signs? Signs of what? Crazy people infiltrating MSNBC's space blog? OK.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

C. Little — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:43:42 GMT

There are signs in the sky? Good heavens, we're doomed! Quick, everybody look busy!

Hubble probes a comet's heart

louie p martinez, phoenix , arizona. — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:01:01 GMT

TO GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE SPACE ITS BEAUTY,ITS MISTERY HOW WE ALL WONDER KEEP REACHING AND KEEP US ALL INFORMED THANKS FOR ALL THAT YOU SHARE AND INSPIRE.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

clueless — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:13:02 GMT

These things never tell the clueless which way to look....

Hubble probes a comet's heart

HeavilyMental, Detroit, MI — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:13:29 GMT

Lou wrote: "Stop quoting your fiction, this is science."

One person's fiction is another one's truth. There's nothing wrong with what Concerned Citizen wrote. In fact, it's very appropriate. Quit trying to bully people for expressing their views.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

non-clothed monkey, c.b. — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:27:00 GMT

um ya stop the fiction and just enjoy the beauty of a dieng comet. for with death life comes anew.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Swillis — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:48:17 GMT

And if you found the right picture of Hale-
Bopp, you could see a third tail composed of sodium.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:48:27 GMT

Finaly the HST got in on the act. I haven't seen a hubble shot of this until now and I sure have done some searching. Its hard to believe the actual comet is maybe 10 km's in diameter.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Alan Boyle — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:59:17 GMT

Dear Clueless: Never fear! If you follow the first link in this item, you'll find a little sky map and story that should give you a general clue.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21551743/

This information from Sky & Telescope should also be very helpful:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/10862521.html

And there's this guide from Astronomy magazine:

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=6183

Heavens Above provides a continuously updated locator map (once you log in):

http://www.heavens-above.com

Really, you can't miss it if you know generally where the constellations Cassiopeia and Perseus are. If you have some good pictures of Comet Holmes, please, please send them along to us using our FirstPerson tool ... we'll share them with everyone next week:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20205619/

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Her Daddy, Greensburg, PA — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:26:51 GMT

Sorry everyone, but you'll have to get used to calling it "Cecilia's Comet"; I showed it to my 3 yr old thru my small scope and now it's "her comet".

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Judy White, Algonac, Michigan — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 04:08:47 GMT

Could someone please point this hapless retiree in the right direction. I have the binoculars and need to know where to point them. Thanks

Hubble probes a comet's heart

jane doe — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:36:09 GMT

Dear Her Daddy, it is more than time for Cecila to have a comet named after her. Following a long tradition of professors taking credit for their student's work, it is only her due.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Lyn, West Plains, MO — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:59:13 GMT

I am just grateful to be able to see them @ all-God has given us this gift so quit c/o & enjoy it. I have gotten to see Hale-Bopp, Halley's, & Holmes in my lifetime-who knows what others I will get to see B4 I die? The top photo is great. Wish I was that good w a camera & the night sky. Happy Thankgiving everyone.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 06:26:16 GMT

Here are 2 links depicting the orbit of the comet in relation to the earth. Both are very informative. You can see Holmes is a periodic comet that hangs around the inner planets and Jupiter and rather inclined to the orbital plane or ecliptic.

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?
sstr=17P;orb=1;cov=0;log=0#orb

http://www.shadowandsubstance.com

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Alan Boyle — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 06:48:49 GMT

Gang, I forgot that we have a bulletin board where you can discuss your sightings. If you look up high in the northeast sky a couple of hours after dark, it should be easy to spot the cute little fuzzball. It's rather hazy, doesn't jump out at you, but you can definitely tell it's something unusual. Here's the address for the discussion board:

http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/
thread.aspx?boardid=793&threadid=442294

Hubble probes a comet's heart

km — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:09:48 GMT

Where is it? I look NE and its not there

Hubble probes a comet's heart

km — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:14:02 GMT

I can't find it. Maybe it blew up.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Soul^^Asylum — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:58:25 GMT

There are a few no lifes everywhere and in every blog so here is no exception. Enjoy the heavens and don't give others a hard time for being themselves. You may one day find yourself looking to those that "Watch the Heavens" to save your skin.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Nick C — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:13:21 GMT

Please, when are astronomers going to acknowledge the electrical nature of comets? Holmes never gets closer to the Sun than the orbit of Mars, what makes anyone think that it is hot enough out there to vaporize water ices? Further more, these people are basing all their conjectures on the "Dirty Snowball Theory of Comets." The fact is that, probes to Comets have shown that their surfaces are no different than assorted asteroids, and other small bodies in the solar system, so now they've moved the ices hidden in the interior, because they are trying to salvage their pet theory, no matter what the facts indicate. What makes a celestial body into a "comet" is an elliptical orbit that forces it to encounter changes in the ambient electrical (plasmaspheres of the sun or planets) environment. This particular comet is under great electrical stress forcing it to fission, its' surface being made into an extremely fine dust through the process of EDM (electrical discharge machining.)

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Alec Clement — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:01:53 GMT

Why don't we all just relax and enjoy the wonder of it all.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Ken McClellan, Stafford, VA — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:53:19 GMT

We know a comet could spell doom as it did in 10,900 BC over North America or Siberia in 1908. We know these things are made of ice and rock. We know that when light hits them, they jet off some of their matter. We have high power lasers. So why don't we use one of these things for target practice and see if we can affect its trajectory?

Hubble probes a comet's heart

a p garcia — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:15:36 GMT

If Comet Holmes had brightened before, I would have concluded that LGM's or George Bush as well as GW were behind it!

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Frank Glover, Rochester, NY — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:47:17 GMT

"Holmes never gets closer to the Sun than the orbit of Mars, what makes anyone think that it is hot enough out there to vaporize water ices?"

Physics.

Even on the surface of Mars, water sometimes warms enough to melt. There are orbital observations that strongly suggest it's happened in some localites very recently.

AND rermember that in vacuum (and on most of Mars, the atmospheric pressure is low enough for this to happen pretty quickly) water sublimes directly from a solid to a gas, just as frozen CO2 (also known as 'dry ice') does, even at one Earth atmosphere.

It doesn't have to warm to 212F out there, it just has to get a little above freezing and there you have it.

Water vapor.

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Wild Yaker, Phoenix, AZ — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:31:09 GMT

Any chance this comet hit an asteriod?

On a side note, real Scientists are open to all beliefs that have not been disproven yet. No matter if they do not align with their religious beliefs. Only ignorant people would put someone else down for their beliefs!

Also, all real astronomers believe in a god of some sort...

Hubble probes a comet's heart

Frank Glover Rochester, NY — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:55:35 GMT

"We know that when light hits them, they jet off some of their matter. We have high power lasers. So why don't we use one of these things for target practice and see if we can affect its trajectory?"

None of these lasers could deliver meaningful energy at those distances. As a weapon, they need only burn holes in the relatively 'soft' targets of thin metal rocket bodies, already carrying signifigant amounts of solid or liquid fuel. Even at close range, those same devices would be delivering pinpricks against a multi-megaton object, and any effect would be lost in the 'noise' of the very same natural outgassing you refer to...

In other words, it would be like using a machine gun against an already erupting volcano.

Serious deflection would take nukes. Pure and simple. (and depending on the composition of the object, maybe not even that would be very effective)