click here for a 60% size 1987x1392 (838KB)
Comet Holmes was discovered in 1892 by Edwin Holmes. Similarly to the time of discovery, comet holmes
rapidly increased in brightness at 24. October 07 due to an unexpected outburst. The absolut brightness actually
increased by about 500'000 times which probably occured because of a break up of the comet or a sudden exposure of
ice. Since then, the bright coma is expanding and has reached about 27arcmin in diameter at this stage.
Holmes will continue expanding and continuously fading out during the next weeks. The bright star in the image above
is Mirfak (Alpha Persei).