Comet 17P/Holmes close up

The comet was discovered by Edwin Holmes on November 6, 1892 while he was conducting regular observations of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Its iscovery in 1892 was made because of and during magnitude changes similar to the 2007 outburst. 17P/Holmes brightened to an approximate magnitude of 4 or 5 before fading from visibility over a period of several weeks.

Between October 23�24, 2007, the comet grew much brighter, going from magnitude 17 to magnitude 2.5 in just a few hours, while in the constellation Perseus. The first reported person to notice anything happening with 17P/Holmes was J. A. Henr�quez Santana on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands; minutes later Ram�n Naves in Barcelona noticed the comet at magnitude 7.3. It became easily visible to the naked eye as a bright yellow “star” in Perseus. 17P/Holmes appeared as the third brightest “star” in Perseus by October 25.