It seems that the reason Comet Holmes doesn't have a visible tail is that we're "boresighted" on it on Planet Earth and looking straight down the tail means we don't see much.

I was just thinking about any other probes around the solar system that might be better placed to see the tail and wonder if the New Horizons probe would be suitable. I imagine Cassini at Saturn is too far away and the various Mars orbiters would not be much better off than us on Earth.

I'm quite sure that there are very good technical reasons for not pointing probes at the comet, but if we could get another viewpoint it may help explain its sudden and drammatic recent brightening.

Any ideas anyone ?