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Comet C/2012 S1 ISON

Lohan2008

By Lohan2008
in Science & Spaceflight

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Lohan2008

Lohan2008

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Comet ISON, the much anticipated “comet of the centuryâ€Â, is finally beginning to live up to its reputation; dramatically increasing in brightness as it draws nearer to the Sun.

Astronomers have predicted that the icy object could become the brightest comet of the century, thanks to a flight path that will take it exceptionally close to the Sun.

ISON will come within approximately 724,000 miles (1.16 million kilometers) of the star’s surface on 28th November, with the heat (around 2,760C – hot enough to melt rock and metal) vaporizing thecomet’s icy body and creating a bright tail that will glow in the night’s sky.

It’s still not certain quite how bright ISON will become, as there’s a chance that the comet will be destroyed by the intense heat and gravitational pull of the Sun before it comes too close.

However, the most recent calculations predict that ISON will likely survive long enough to put on a show for both professional and amateur astronomers.

Enthusiastic stargazers have already begun reporting sightings of the come through small telescopes and binoculars.

“I finally saw Comet ISON for the first time using small binoculars!†wrote pilot Brian Whittaker on the SpaceWeather.com website. “It was faint, but is predicted to brighten and move each day! Exciting!â€Â

ISON should become visible to the naked eye in early mornings throughout December and then during the night through January.

The comet was discovered by a pair of amateur Russian astronomers in September 2012. Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok named the celestial object after the array of telescopes they used to locate it: the International Scientific Optical Network

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/comet-ison-heats-up-comet-of-the-century-begins-to-brighten-as-it-nears-the-sun-8947126.html

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Lohan2008

Lohan2008

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The video was captured by the space agency's STEREO-A spacecraft, and tracked the comet over a five-day period from November 20 to 25, according to the Global Post.

In the footage, the bright gleam of Mercury and Earth are highlighted against the crimson background of space, while the burning orange rays of the Sun can be seen radiating out of sight.

The suddenly, the comet can be seen streaking across the blood red sky soaring just below the Earth and shooting on towards the Suns enveloping rays.

Although the comet did not directly pass by the Earth, thanks to the location of the telescope the footage provided has given us the heart stopping optical illusion that it missed Earth by mere inches.

The comet has drawn wide interest because of its potential to be a spectacular sight in the night sky, with some scientists dubbing the object a possible "comet of the century."

But don't worry, we earthlings aren't in any danger, according to Philip Plait, an astronomer who writes the Bad Astronomy blog for Slate.

Mr Plait told ninemsn that "the closest the comet will be is on December 26 when it will be over 60 million kilometres away, or 150 times farther than the Moon!" .

The comet is expected to 'graze' past the Sun sometime tomorrow, with many scientists now guessing (and betting) as to whether ISON will survive the encounter.

"As far as its fate tomorrow, we're not sure," Mr Plait explains.

"It may remain intact, in which case it'll get bigger and brighter, but so close to the Sun it will be really hard to see from Earth."

That said, it may still be worth keeping those binoculars at the ready.

"The comet may very well be visible after it passes the Sun; if it remains intact it could be visible to the naked eye as early as next week. By the second week of December it may still be visible with binoculars."

Space cadets rejoice.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technology/2013/11/28/12/02/nasa-captures-moment-comet-passes-near-earth

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Tommygun

Tommygun

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But comets do out gas and change course......I would imagine it will be out gassing quite a lot at 1.2 million km from the Sun or breaks up into millions of fragments like a big wide shotgun blast.

I'm not predicting the end of the world, just saying. :D

Edited by Tommygun
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Ralathon

Ralathon

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Seems ISON is fizzling out sadly. It's giving a spectacular show to the Solar observatories but its magnitude is dropping quickly.

http://www.isoncampaign.org/karl/hanging-by-its-fingernails

So it seems unlikely that we'll have a comet left by the end of the day. Don't get your hopes up for naked eye viewings in December.

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MrChumley

MrChumley

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The last I saw the apparent magnitude was at -4? It's just come into view of SOHO LASCO C2 and it looks to be holding together.... Far from "fizzled"...

95Ehv2S.jpg

Here's the latest I could get:

LlOsEE8.jpg

Edited by MrChumley
added latest image
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gtmattz

gtmattz

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Seems ISON is fizzling out sadly. It's giving a spectacular show to the Solar observatories but its magnitude is dropping quickly.

http://www.isoncampaign.org/karl/hanging-by-its-fingernails

So it seems unlikely that we'll have a comet left by the end of the day. Don't get your hopes up for naked eye viewings in December.

I will most definitely keep my hopes up. This comet has been unpredictable the entire time it has been being observed, so it is not outside the realm of possibilities that the comet will survive its encounter with the sun and give us an amazing show for Christmas. Heck the guy writing the article you linked even says as much:

"BUT... at every single opportunity it can find, comet ISON has done completely the opposite of what we expect, and it certainly wouldn't be out of character for this dynamic object to again do something remarkable. "

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MrChumley

MrChumley

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The server at sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov is taking too long to respond.... It's going around NOW!!!

Anybody have latest pics?

** Edit: I'll just edit in the latest image as I get it above...

as we wait to see what comes out the other side here is a video showing ISON as it neared perhelion:

Edited by MrChumley
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MrChumley

MrChumley

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Its a big mystery to me as to why it wasn't visible on SDO? If you watched Lovejoy then this is similar (but smaller), the comet lost it's tail on the close perhelion, and almost dissappeared, only to regain it's tail brightness..

Heres a pretty good video where you can see what I'm talking about:

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MrChumley

MrChumley

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Still it's about what the comet is made of.

Theory:

If you threw a dirty snowball into the sun, then there would be some oxidation going on.

Experiment:

Point oxidation sensing equipment at burning snowball.

Result:

Oxidation sensing equipment senses nothing.

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