17P/Holmes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17P/Holmes#_ref-gunn_0

On October 23-24, 2007, the comet grew significantly brighter overnight, going from magnitude 17 to magnitude 3 in just a few hours, while in the constellation of Perseus. The comet became easily visible to the naked eye as a bright yellow "star".Such luminosity bursts can normally be explained by sudden outgassing or the release of particles by the comet.

 

COMET ERUPTION: Whatever is happening to Comet 17P/Holmes, it's weird. "I've never seen anything like it! It almost looks like a planet,"

 

.......... "This is unbelievable!" says Iranian astronomer....

 

 

http://www.spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_holmes.html

Summary: Comet 17P/Holmes shocked astronomers on Oct. 24, 2007, with a spectacular eruption. In less than 24 hours, the 17th magnitude comet brightened by a factor of nearly a million becoming a naked-eye object in the evening sky. Look for a golden 2.5th magnitude fuzzball in the constellation Perseus after sunset. [sky map]

 

BIG FULL MOON: Tonight's full Moon is the biggest full Moon of 2007. It's no illusion. Some full Moons are genuinely larger than others and this one is a whopper. Why? Read the answer below.

The Moon's orbit is an ellipse with one side 30,000 miles closer to Earth than the other. The full Moon of Oct. 25-26 is located on the near side, making it appear as much as 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser full Moons we've seen earlier in 2007.

http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=25&month=10&year=2007