Philosophy
"Comet On Target for Thanksgiving Roasting"
November 1st, 2013
StarDate
A comet that’s caused a lot of excitement is racing toward a close encounter with the Sun on Thanksgiving Day. It will pass about 700,000 miles above the Sun before whipping around and heading back toward deep space. That could make the comet easily visible to the unaided eye for a few weeks after the encounter.
An automated asteroid-hunting telescope, part of the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) in Russia, discovered Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) on September 21, 2012. Some comet-watchers quickly suggested that it could become as bright as a full Moon late this year.
Continued observations, however, show that it’s not brightening as much as those optimistic projections indicated. However, the comet appears to be holding together as it approaches the Sun, suggesting that it could survive its encounter and brighten enough to see without aid in early December.
ISON probably came from the Oort Cloud, a vast shell of icy bodies that extends up to one light-year from the Sun. These bodies are leftover “building blocks” from the birth of the solar system, so they contain the same mixture of materials that gave birth to Earth and the other planets. Studying them helps scientists understand how Earth and the other planets took shape.
The comet probably is making its first pass by the Sun. As it nears the Sun, solar heat vaporizes some of the ice at its surface, surrounding the comet’s nucleus, which appears to be about three miles in diameter, with a big ball of gas and dust. Sunlight and the solar wind push some of this material away from ISON to form a tail.
The comet will get brighter as it approaches the Sun, but more difficult to see through the Sun’s glare. It will shine at its brightest as it passes the Sun, although it will be too close to the Sun to view safely. In early December, though, it will move into the morning sky, where it could put on a reasonable display for a few weeks.
ISON will pass closest to Earth on December 26, at a distance of about 40 million miles.
- It's Aliveeeeee...ison That Is
Yesterday's time lapse indicated that the bulk of the comet had fell victim to the sun [above], but it appears that it survived. spaceweather.com... Cancel the funeral. Comet ISON is back from the dead. Yesterday, Nov. 28th, Comet ISON flew through...
- Comet Ison In 2013...maybe Quite A Show
"The Backyard Astronomer: Terrorizing comet of 1680 returning?" by Neal Galt October 4th, 2012 The Hearld The astronomy world is all abuzz about the prospect of a newly discovered comet heading our way, that may be the brightest one to be seen during...
- Draconid Meteor Shower...october 7-8
Spaceweather.com... Earth is about to pass through a stream of debris from comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, source of the annual Draconid meteor shower. Last year, Europeans witnessed a faint but furious outburst of 600 meteors per hour when the shower...
- Comet Lulin Is Getting Closer
COMET LULIN UPDATE: Comet Lulin is approaching Earth and brightening rapidly. Observers say it is now visible to the naked eye as a faint (magnitude +5.6) gassy patch in the constellation Virgo before dawn. Even city dwellers have seen it. Backyard telescopes...
- Green Comet Lulin
Amateur astronomer Jack Newton took this photograph of Comet Lulin. I don't normally mention specific astronomy events to witness, but this is spectacular and fits well into this year's celebration of astronomy...the observation of a visitor...
Philosophy
Thanksgiving Day comet
An October 8 view of the comet from the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter near Tucson.
"Comet On Target for Thanksgiving Roasting"
November 1st, 2013
StarDate
A comet that’s caused a lot of excitement is racing toward a close encounter with the Sun on Thanksgiving Day. It will pass about 700,000 miles above the Sun before whipping around and heading back toward deep space. That could make the comet easily visible to the unaided eye for a few weeks after the encounter.
An automated asteroid-hunting telescope, part of the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) in Russia, discovered Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) on September 21, 2012. Some comet-watchers quickly suggested that it could become as bright as a full Moon late this year.
Continued observations, however, show that it’s not brightening as much as those optimistic projections indicated. However, the comet appears to be holding together as it approaches the Sun, suggesting that it could survive its encounter and brighten enough to see without aid in early December.
ISON probably came from the Oort Cloud, a vast shell of icy bodies that extends up to one light-year from the Sun. These bodies are leftover “building blocks” from the birth of the solar system, so they contain the same mixture of materials that gave birth to Earth and the other planets. Studying them helps scientists understand how Earth and the other planets took shape.
The comet probably is making its first pass by the Sun. As it nears the Sun, solar heat vaporizes some of the ice at its surface, surrounding the comet’s nucleus, which appears to be about three miles in diameter, with a big ball of gas and dust. Sunlight and the solar wind push some of this material away from ISON to form a tail.
The comet will get brighter as it approaches the Sun, but more difficult to see through the Sun’s glare. It will shine at its brightest as it passes the Sun, although it will be too close to the Sun to view safely. In early December, though, it will move into the morning sky, where it could put on a reasonable display for a few weeks.
ISON will pass closest to Earth on December 26, at a distance of about 40 million miles.
- It's Aliveeeeee...ison That Is
Yesterday's time lapse indicated that the bulk of the comet had fell victim to the sun [above], but it appears that it survived. spaceweather.com... Cancel the funeral. Comet ISON is back from the dead. Yesterday, Nov. 28th, Comet ISON flew through...
- Comet Ison In 2013...maybe Quite A Show
"The Backyard Astronomer: Terrorizing comet of 1680 returning?" by Neal Galt October 4th, 2012 The Hearld The astronomy world is all abuzz about the prospect of a newly discovered comet heading our way, that may be the brightest one to be seen during...
- Draconid Meteor Shower...october 7-8
Spaceweather.com... Earth is about to pass through a stream of debris from comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, source of the annual Draconid meteor shower. Last year, Europeans witnessed a faint but furious outburst of 600 meteors per hour when the shower...
- Comet Lulin Is Getting Closer
COMET LULIN UPDATE: Comet Lulin is approaching Earth and brightening rapidly. Observers say it is now visible to the naked eye as a faint (magnitude +5.6) gassy patch in the constellation Virgo before dawn. Even city dwellers have seen it. Backyard telescopes...
- Green Comet Lulin
Amateur astronomer Jack Newton took this photograph of Comet Lulin. I don't normally mention specific astronomy events to witness, but this is spectacular and fits well into this year's celebration of astronomy...the observation of a visitor...