Bonanza for skywatchers! Catch this Comet that exploded in 2007! Know how and when

Skywatchers can catch the view of the remains of a comet that exploded 15 years ago. Here’s how and when.

Comet Holmes exploded in sepctacular fashion in 2007 and now you can watch it live in the sky above Earth! (NASA/MSFC/Aaron Kingery)

You can watch a Comet from Earth and that too very soon! Not a comet really, but an exploded comet. You may know comets mostly as shooting stars streaking across the sky. Now, a comet named 17P/Holmes had exploded in 2007 out in space and it caused one of the biggest comet-linked detonations in astronomical history and since then, its remains have been floating through space. What's surprising is that skywatchers will have a good opportunity to watch these dusty remains of a comet in the sky which has been floating there for the last 15 years!

The dust trail from the explosion of the comet outburst that shook space in October 2007 will grace the sky this summer. All the skywatchers will have a great opportunity to have a mesmerizing view. During the time of the explosion in 2007, the comet brightened by a factor of a million and at that moment it was also the largest object in the solar system.

A new study led by researchers from the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute in Finland and published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, has shed more light on the evolution of the dust trail produced due to the explosion. The paper claims that this is a great opportunity to study cometary material and get a better understanding on how particles of the comet are spread into elliptical orbits after the explosions.

How to watch Comet remains from Earth

The study revealed that the comet's dust particles would become visible from Earth with ground telescopes in August 2022. The dust trail itself should start becoming visible at the end of July. It further says that you will need a 30 centimetre telescope that is equipped with a CCD camera to observe the dust trail of the comet via the image subtraction method. Well, the team has been tracking the dusty trail of the comet for a while now which showed that the comet's remains have form an "hourglass" pattern and it should be relatively easy to catch it.