A periodic comet called P17 Holmes has brightened and is now visible with the naked eye, the Korea Astronomy Observatory said on Wednesday. Comets are small celestial bodies that orbit the sun. They usually have long tails made of gas, which distinguishes them from asteroids. Comet Holmes is visible in the northeastern sky within the constellation Perseus, which borders Cassiopeia. The comet looks like a round fuzzy ball in binoculars because of the gas clouds surrounding its nucleus. It does not have a tail yet.
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A composite picture of Holmes Comet and the moon (left).
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Comet Holmes was named for its discoverer, U.K. astronomer Edwin Holmes, who first spotted it in 1892. It orbits the sun once every 7.1 years. Normally Comet Holmes has a brightness magnitude of 17 and is visible only with a large telescope. But recently it flared up and people can now observe it without optical equipment.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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