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 ?

Looking at the latest diagrams, seems like Holmes is on the opposite side of the Sun from NH--probably not directly, but still too close to chance. I'm also guessing that the team considers it a low-priority target, since they'd have to bring the craft out of hibernation to view it; with the other risks involved, it probably isn't worth it to them.

Good question, though. Ironic, too--as I realize that even if NH could view the comet, the view would still be head-on, as it is for us.

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"Call me old-fashioned, but I think fire is magic. And it scares me a lot."

--The State

In another topic, Cruising, there is a list of cruising craft:

New Horizons
Phoenix
Dawn
Rosetta
Messenger
Hayabusa
Deep Impact
Stardust

Voyager 1
Voyager 2
Ulysses

Anyone care to look for candidates besides New Horizons? Would a well-equipped craft already on station, like MRO, be of use? It might be a tad closer. Or is it still not enough of a telescope.

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Someone on one of my other boards suggested using MRO; though Mars is closer to Holmes, the brightness difference is less than a magnitude. Though I'd be interested in seeing a pic from said, myself, I don't think MRO could show us anything that larger earthbound telescopes haven't already. Its spectrometers might be able to throw us a few surprises, though...

__________________
"Call me old-fashioned, but I think fire is magic. And it scares me a lot."

--The State