Comet 17P/Holmes burst forth on October 24, 2007. What started off as a 17th magnitude comet unviewable by all but the largest and most expensive telescopes had increased in brightness within 24 hours to magnitude 2.5 and easily visible to the naked eye. That is about a half a million factor increase in brightness. Since the 24th the comet continued to increase in brightness but has leveled off over the last several days. The size of the comet's coma (the area of dust/ice/gas surrounding the nucleus of the comet) continues to expand and is now 7 times larger than the planet Jupiter or 70% as large as the Sun. That makes Comet 17P/Holmes the second largest object in the solar system with only the sun being bigger. It occupies a space in our night sky of about 1/3 that of a full moon. The moon is about 240,000 miles away while the comet is 150,000,000 (150 Million Miles) away. The nucleus of the comet is only 2-4 miles in diameter. Astronomers theorize that the comet may be made up a bit like swiss cheese with big holes all throughout it. The theory is that a large hole caved in and exposed fresh ice, gas, and dust which immediately burst forth into what we have seen and continue to see. Here is where to look:

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