© Leonid EleninComet Ikeya-Murakami (C/2010 V1) appears to brightening, signifying it could be in the middle of an outburst. Furthermore, the comet's gaseous head or "coma" bears a striking resemblance to that of Comet Holmes, which experienced a dramatic brightening and explosion in 2007.
The comet, called Ikeya-Murakami (C/2010 V1), was first detected last week by amateur astronomers in Japan, but several other skywatchers have since been watching the icy wanderer's changing appearance over the last few days.
Russian astronomer Leonid Elenin, of Moscow, used the remotely operated ISON-NM telescope in New Mexico to observe the new Comet Ikeya-Murakami over the weekend.
"After the discovery, C/2010 V1 looked like a bright fuzzy ball, without details," Elenin told SPACE.com in an e-mail. "But after a few days, I was discouraged - [this] comet is rapidly changing."
The comet appears to brightening, signifying it could be in the middle of an outburst, according to Spaceweather.com. While the comet cannot be seen with the unaided eye, it should be easily detectable with backyard telescopes, the website added. Typically, however, finding a comet with a telescope can be tricky for those who are not familiar with sky charts and the night sky.
I was excited when I knew about this bright amateur discovery. I was right in my observatory, doing my routine minor planets follow-up, and I hoped the sky remained clear to catch the comet a few hours later," Buzzi told SPACE.com. "It's good that in this modern era, dominates by the big surveys, there is space left also for amateurs discoveries.
So many discoveries of 'new' celestial intermittents!
By amateurs, no less!
Makes one wonder what the discoverers of the middle ages were doing, how could they miss all of these?
Maybe it was the middle of the cycle. Ahem.