The comet 17p/holmes was made visible to the naked eye the evening of Oct. 23 and could possibly remain discernible for several more weeks.
Jack Brockwell, astronomy professor at Radford University, said the comet was first discovered in 1892. It went unnoticed, however, until the 1950s. The comet comes back around every seven years, but this does not necessarily mean it can always be seen.
Brockwell said in order for a comet to be visible, it has to do what is known as flare up. This means that the ice that is coated by dust and dirt collected through space, is reflected by the sun and it vaporizes. Therefore, a light that is brighter and fuzzier than your average star is created.
"This comet brightened very unexpectedly," Brockwell said.
The comet 17p/holmes is currently residing in the Perseus constellation. It is only about two miles wide. However, the coma, which is the dust and gas surrounding the comet, is half the size of the sun.
Brockwell said that this comet is currently at a light magnitude between three and two. A magnitude of zero is considered to be amongst the brightest of stars.
Whether or not the comet will remain to be seen for an extended period of time is "unpredictable because comets are unstable," Brockwell said.
Dr. John Simonetti, a physics professor at Virginia Tech said this comet is one of the rare cases in which it can be seen by the naked eye.
"It is not often that (a comet) goes from being completely invisible to the naked eye to brighter than the stars in a couple of hours," Simonetti said.
He said in his 20 years at Tech, there have been very few comets that can be observed without a telescope.
"I can count the number of times on one hand," Simonetti said.
Jessica Gorzo, Astronomy Club president, said the club has meetings at the observatory every other Tuesday.
Two weeks ago the club was able to witness this comet, as it only comes into our viewing area every 6.8 years. The club members also attend the open house sessions at the observatory to ensure visitors are all able to utilize the telescope.
Gorzo said that the club frequently looks out at the "Andromeda Galaxy, nebula, and various globular clusters."
The club also looks forward to the brightening of other planets, which makes them more visible.
"We are close to a period where Mars is going to be really bright," Gorzo said.
The astronomy club is open to any student with an interest and does not require any prior knowledge or expertise.
The Prices Fork Observatory, which was built in the 1970s by the physics department and contains a 14" Celestron Telescope, will be open to the public this Friday for those interested in gaining a closer look at the comet.