Astronomers around the northern hemisphere continue to be delighted by the odd 17/P Holmes, which exploded unexpectedly into naked-eye view last week.
But it's an odd little beastie for a number of reasons. Not only has it decided to be this month's unscheduled Times Square of space, pictures show it lacking the traditional comet's tail.
Today astronomers at Quebec's Mont Megantic Observatory say they have observed a "tail-like feature" at last, sort of, using a near-infrared imager. The picture included here is what they're seeing – a bright slightly elongated section, probably a cloud of dust and gas, at about 145 degrees around the face of this photo.
The images "display tantalizing evidence of a tail," they say in a press release today, although noting that the feature does not in fact point in the direction opposite the sun, as do most comet tails.
I'm no astronomer, but I have to say this barely looks like a
"tail-like feature" to me. Nevertheless, it's definitely interesting. I'd love to hear more about this puzzling visitor.
(Image: 17/P Holmes as viewed through SIMON, a Near Infrared
Polarimetric Imager. Credit: Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA),
University of Montreal)
