Comet ISON 2013: A Guide For Seeing The Visitor From the Oort Cloud (Or Not)
Comet ISON 2013: A Guide For Seeing The Visitor From the Oort Cloud (Or Not)
The comet ISON is hurtling toward the sun. (Photo: NASA)
If you’re hoping to watch the ISON comet — the long anticipated, newly discovered comet — there’s good news and there’s bad news.
The good news is it’s going to be brighter than the moon on Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, and could be one of the brightest comets to swing by in the last 100 years. The bad news is it might disolve before it gets here. According to NASA’s Comet ISON Observing Campaign, “The big question that does remain — and indeed will remain unanswered until after perihelion — is whether it will disrupt and vaporize at perihelion. We lean towards thinking it will survive, but neither outcome would be an enormous surprise to us.”
”Perihelion” is a jargon term for the closest point to the sun in an elliptical orbit. It’s what makes this comet so special, and it’s also what threatens to destroy it. Comets that come this close to the sun, known as stargrazers, are rare, and many of them don’t survive the trip. Comets are made mostly of ice and live in the Oort Cloud, a big floating sphere of icy objects almost a light-year away from the sun. (Not to be confused with rocky asteroids, which populate the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.)
The sun makes comets spectacular to look at because when they swoop in close, the solar wind blows a long, bright tail. But when they come too close, many comets break up in the sun’s heat. This one might do that. According to the Observing Campaign, the ISON is a solar system newbie. “ISON is likely a very ‘fresh’ comet on its first visit to the inner solar system,” they wrote. “All of its volatile elements may be fully intact, and it may never have felt the intensity of the sun’s radiation or gravitational stresses.” In other words, it might be a dud.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look because, on the other hand, it might be spectacular. NASA sure is looking. They organized and funded the last-minute observatory launch of a picture-taking rocket called FORTIS. On Nov. 20, barring further delays, FORTIS will take off from New Mexico for a six-minute flight. And amateur astronomers all over the world are looking, too. Several observatories are planning look-out events.
If you want to try to see ISON from home, here’s what you need to know: Many observation charts are confusing, but this diagram, created by EarthSky.org, is the best one we’ve found for helping you spot ISON in the sky. According to EarthSky, ISON (which, by the way, stands for International Scientific Optical Network, after the telescope that found it in September 2012) will be in the eastern sky in the late part of November, steadily brightening toward Nov. 28, when it’s expected to be its brightest. These charts, too, are very helpful. The blog WaitingForISON indicates, in a chart for each November day, the comet’s position in the eastern sky.
One other downside of this comet (sorry, don’t mean to keep killing the buzz): ISON will only appear just before dawn, about 30 minutes before sunrise. Better set your alarm. And a backup. And a backup to the backup.
Editor’s note: If you snap an amazing picture of Comet ISON or any other night sky view that you’d like to share for a possible story or image gallery, send photos, comments and your name and location to editor JayWill7497 at [email protected]
You can follow the latest Comet ISON news, photos and video on Before It’s News.com
Comet ISON 333 Year Pattern!!!
Published on Nov 21, 2013
Every 333 year cycles, comets seem to pass by leaving behind devastation. They are also harbingers of war. Could Comet ISON herald in a world war???
SDO Sees Comet Lovejoy Survive Close Encounter With Sun
Published on Nov 21, 2013
http://www.thesuntoday.org - One instrument watching for the comet was the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which adjusted its cameras in order to watch the trajectory. Not only does this help with comet research, but it also helps orient instruments on SDO–since the scientists know where the comet is based on other spacecraft, they can finely determine the position of SDO’s mirrors. This first clip from SDO from the evening of Dec 15, 2011 shows Comet Lovejoy moving in toward the sun.
Comet Lovejoy survived its encounter with the sun. The second clip shows the comet exiting from behind the right side of the sun, after an hour of travel through its closest approach to the sun. By tracking how the comet interacts with the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, and how material from the tail moves along the sun’s magnetic field lines, solar scientists hope to learn more about the corona. This movie was filmed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory in 171 Angstrom wavelength, which is typically shown in yellow.
Short URL to This Page: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?10886
Animation Number: 10886
Completed: 2011-12-16
Video Editor: Scott Wiessinger (USRA)
Producer: Scott Wiessinger (USRA)
Writer: Karen Fox (ASI)
Platforms/Sensors/Data Sets: SDO/AIA/171 Filter
SDO
Series: Narrated Movies
Heliophysics Breaking News
Credit: NASA/SDO
Comet ISON Meets the Sun
Scheduled for Nov 26, 2013
Join Slooh for an early Live recap of Comet ISON’s journey to the Sun just days before it makes its closest approach. Bob Berman will take us through the history of ISON since it reemerge in the night sky back in August, and he will discuss what should be expected from the comets close encounter with the Sun on Thanksgiving day.
Comet ISON’s Orbit
Published on Nov 21, 2013
http://www.thesuntoday.org - Comet ISON is now approaching the inner solar system. Discovered last year, the comet remains unusually active for its distance from the sun. If current trends continue, ISON could rank as one of the brightest comets in decades when it makes its close approach to the sun in late November. This animation shows the comet’s approach and departure from the inner solar system from various perspectives.
Short URL to This Page: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?11222
Animation Number: 11222
Completed: 2013-03-11
Animator: Tom Bridgman (GST) (Lead)
Video Editor: Scott Wiessinger (USRA)
Producer: Scott Wiessinger (USRA)
Writer: Francis Reddy (Syneren Technologies)
Series: Narrated Movies
Astrophysics Visualizations
Astrophysics Stills
Comet ISON’s Journey into the Light
Goddard TV Tape: G2013-030 — Comet ISON
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
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Be AWARE and be PREPARED, FEAR is not an option. Be safe everyone…
