Nov 3-6 2007: View Comet Holmes & Space Shuttle/Space Station

William Atkins
Saturday, 03 November 2007 23:59

Science - Space

The hugely popular Comet 17P/Holmes is continuing to be quite a sight in the night sky. During the evening of November 4 and the morning of November 5, 2007, it makes its closest approach to the Earth. At the same time, the space shuttle and the space station will be seen in the night sky.

Comet Holmes grew in brightness by about a million times in a period of time of just over two days back on around October 24. Unable to be viewed by small telescopes and binoculars before that time, Comet Holmes is now easily seen by amateur astronomers and sky gazers.

The comet can be seen in the constellation Perseus, which is found in the northeastern sky after sunset. A good sky map appears at the ESA Science and Technology website “Sky Position of Comet 17P/Holmes” at: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=41494.

The planet Venus will also appear to the left of the Moon. And, above the two, is the planet Jupiter.

If this is not enough for you, many outside night viewers will see the NASA space shuttle and the International Space Station fly over together. They are docked together but later in the week space shuttle Discovery will undock and possibly be seen as a bright spot in the night sky along side the International Space Station.

The STS-120 crew is now scheduled to depart the station on November 7, 2007, although that date is tentative depending if an extra space walk is necessary.

Check out these websites for your particular times when the shuttle and station fly over your local night sky:

NASA SpaceFlight: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html
Heavens-Above: http://www.heavens-above.com/main.aspx

The website of Heavens-Above also contains information on Comet Holmes.