NASA's
Spitzer Space Telescope took a behind-the-scenes look at the structure of Comet
Holmes in Feb. 2008.
Comet
Holmes brightened suddenly on Oct. 24, 2007, and temporarily became one of the
brighter objects in the night sky. Its outburst released a halo of gas and dust
that made it briefly appear larger
than the sun. Here, Spitzer's infrared picture on the left shows the white
nucleus center and the yellow solid particles blown out from the comet. The
contrast-enhanced picture on the right shows the comet's outer shell, as well
as filaments of dust streaming away in the center.
This
was the second time that the comet had flared up in the past 116 years, with
the first time being in Nov. 1892. Every six years, Holmes speeds away from Jupiter and heads inward toward the sun on a regular route.
— NASA/JPL-Caltech and SPACE.com Staff
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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