File:17pHolmes_071104_eder_vga.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Key facts
- Discovered by
- Edwin Holmes
- Discovery date
- 6 November 1892
- Mpc designation
- P/1892 V1, P/1899 L1, P/1964 O1
- Alternative designations
- 1892 III, 1899 II, 1906 III, 1964 X, 1972 I, 1979 IV, 1986 V, 1993 VII, 1892f, 1899d, 1906f, 1964i, 1971b, 1979f, 1986f, 1993i
- Epoch
- 21 November 2025 ( JD 2461000.5)
- Aphelion
- 5.194 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.090 AU
- Semi major axis
- 3.642 AU
- Orbital period
- 6.951 years
- Inclination
- 19.005°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 326.60°
- Argument of periapsis
- 24.603°
- Mean anomaly
- 246.31°
- Last perihelion
- 19 February 2021
- Next perihelion
- 31 January 2028
- Earth moid
- 1.073 AU
- Jupiter moid
- 0.481 AU
- Mean radius
- 1.71 km (1.06 mi)
via Wikipedia infobox
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Comet Holmes /ˈhoʊmz/ (official designation: 17P/Holmes) is a periodic comet in the Solar System, discovered by the British amateur astronomer Edwin Holmes on November 6, 1892. Although normally a very faint object, Holmes became notable during its October 2007 return when it temporarily brightened by a factor of a million, in what was the largest known outburst by a comet, and became visible to the naked eye. It also briefly became the largest object in the Solar System, as its coma (the thin dissipating dust ball around the comet) expanded to a diameter greater than that of the Sun (although its mass remained minuscule). Between 1857–2106 perihelion remains between 2.05–2.36 AU.
Discovery
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Comet Holmes” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.