Edited November 2. Sometimes comets take astronomers by surprise. They may brighten much more than predicted - like Comet McNaught which was visible in our skies back in January of this year. Rarely however do comets brighten from 17th magnitude to 3rd magnitude (a five hundred thousand factor increase) in only 24 hours! Thats what Comet 17P/Holmes did back on October 24th.

After literally exploding into view the comet has now leveled off in brightness. The comet itself has a diameter of 2-4 miles but the coma (the area of gas/ice/dust surrounding the comet) continues to increase in size with it now being 7 times larger than the planet Jupiter or about 70% as large as the Sun (making it the second largest object in the solar system behind the Sun) and it continuing to grow larger every day. It actually takes up a space in our night sky of about 1/3 that of a full moon. Keep in mind that the moon is about 240,000 miles away while Comet 17P/Holmes is 150 million miles away. With most all active comets you can see a visible tail but Comet Holmes appears mainly just as a round fuzzball, however astronomers are starting to see the possible development of a tail. With your naked eye you should be able to see Comet 17P/Holmes as a fuzzball that may have a hint of green in the constellation Perseus. The picture below shows the progress of the comet since the 24th in comparison with the moon.














And Here is where to find Comet 17P/Holmes and keep checking back for further updates: