Is Comet Holmes a threat to us??

Question

It's now bigger than the sun and still seems to be growing....
Thanks for the answers!!

Answer 1

They have already calculated the situation with that comet. It is not a threat.
There's always the possibility of many objects hitting the earth but NASA has been documenting all the objects near us for the past 8 years, so its unlikely. So far no significantly large objects threaten us. They do believe that a asteroid will fly quite close in 2029 or so. But through computer calculations they have found out it will not hit the planet. Though after it flys by it might come back in 10 years or so. (They haven't calculated that yet since there is a lack of information)
Also in the 2020 ranges NASA will be taking steps to build equipment that would be able to redirect objects coming towards the earth so that it does not hit the planet.

Answer 2

What is growing is a cloud of ide, dust and gas thrown out by local heating on the comet. It is so tenuous that you could fly straight through it and hardly hit anything. The important distinction is between size and mass. The coma of the comet is vast but not very massive. It also happens to be travelling almost directly away from us. Even if Earth were to pass through it, unless the nucleus hits us all that would happen is a bit of a meteor shower, which would give us a very nice sight in the sky but would harm no-one.

But the comet's orbit is known, and has been so for over a century. It never even comes within the orbit of Mars, never mind threatening Earth.

Answer 3

no (no threat).

Comets are 'big' because what we see is mostly gas and dust that evaporates from the nucleus (the hard part, usually small) and forms a coma and a tail.

Because the nucleus has almost no gravity and because space is just a vacuum, there is nothing to stop the 'head' of gas from expanding.

If we were to go there and take a sample of the matter in the coma (or the tail), our bottle would contain so little stuff that it would still be a better vacuum than what we can get in laboratories on Earth.

The tails on some major comets can be as long as one astronomical unit (the distance from the Sun to Earth) and, in 1910 the Earth crossed through Halley's comet tail.

At the time, some charlatans scared the people into believing that we would all die unless, of course, we purchased their gas masks...
They made lots of money.

No one got sick (well, maybe some were depressed after forking over lots of money for useless 'protection')

Answer 4

No, it's not a threat in any way. Certainly, it's bigger in diameter than the Sun, but has less than a billionth of the mass of the Sun. Except for its nucleus, which is only a few kilometres across, it's essentially vacuum. Its orbit is well known, and it never gets as close to us as Mars does. It's currently twice as far away from us as the Sun is, and is moving away from us, not towards us.

Answer 5

No it is a not a threat to us
Its only bigger than the sun in the size of its halo of material it is not bigger than the sun in mass or anything else.

There might be other comets that can threaten us but not this one.

Answer 6

No, Comet 17P/Holmes is no threat to us. While it's size is large, and still growing, it's mass is very small, which means it's lightweight and won't affect the orbits of any planets.

Answer 7

It all depends. If the course of this comet has been plotted then it might not be a threat. But it is unpredictable, for unknown reasons to our scientists. The comet got brighter in late October. The same thing happened in 1892 when it passed by us. There are many factors to consider when you plot the course of this comet. Will Jupiter and other planet's gravitational fields affect the comet as it comes into our solar system and circles around the sun? In my opinion it is still to early to know for certain if this comet will come in proximity of our planet.

Answer 8

It is sooo tempting to respond to this kind of question with something like "Yes, and we're all going to diiiee!" or "Yes, Comet Holmes is reaching outward to absorb planets and asteroids, and when it touches Earth we'll all be digested!"

But, maturity prevails...

Name: 17P Holmes
Object type:short period comet
Semimajor axis: 3.6174 AU
Eccentricity: 0.43242
Inclination: 19.113 degrees
Longitude of ascending node: 326.867 degrees
Argument of perihelion: 24.259 degrees
Time of perihelion : JD 2454225.0 (12h UT, 4 May 2007)
Perihelion distance: 2.0532 AU
Orbital period: 2513 days

Holmes was closest to Earth on November 4th, when it was 1.6147 AU from us. It is 1.63 AU from Earth now (this is 16 Nov 2007), and it will just keep on getting further away for a pretty good while.

Holmes is not one of those objects that can hit Earth. The smallest distance that their orbits approach each other is 1.0589 AU, with a heliocentric ecliptic longitude of 342.94 degrees for Earth and 343.36 degrees for Holmes.

Answer 9

could be scary for some
Comet Holmes Bigger Than The Sun
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/faculty/jewitt/holmes.html

COMET HOLMES SUB PAGE
http://www.jmccanneyscience.com/CometHolmesSub-Page.HTM

Nostradamus:

http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showpost.php?p=172117&postcount=5