Comet ISON, 'Comet of the Century'?

[Dragonfire]

By Mike Wall
Space.com

Astronomers are already getting set for the arrival of Comet ISON, which may become one of the brightest comets ever seen when it cruises through the inner solar system this fall.

NASA has brought together a small team of experts to organize an observing campaign for Comet ISON, which could potentially shine as brightly as the moon when it makes its closest pass by the sun in late November if the most optimistic scenarios play out.

Coordinating the efforts of observatories on the ground and in space should help wring as much quality science as possible out of the comet's solar flyby, Comet ISON Observing Campaign (CIOC) officials said.

"It's a rare opportunity that we've got such a long heads-up time, so we actually have time to organize a campaign like this," said Karl Battams, a scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Lab in Washington and a member of the eight-person CIOC Team. "There's a lot of new science that we could get from this."


ISON is a sungrazing comet, meaning its long, looping path through space takes it extremely close to our star. Indeed, ISON is forecast to zoom just 680,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) above the solar surface on its closest approach, which will take place on Nov. 28.

full story: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/18/17361256-astronomers-gear-up-for-comet-of-the-century?lite=

[majicbar]

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/512/

The first images of Comet ISON are showing up in the images from the SOHO satellite. The above link should go to the c3 imager data to show the latest image of the comet.

[touched]

I enjoyed a few observations recently of ISON, Encke, Linear, Brewington, and the brightest of them so far, Lovejoy. It has been an interesting time for stargazers for the past month or so. I'm hoping ISON will put on a good show. It's coma expanded in a short amount of time which of course was expected. It's still anyone's guess whether or not it survives perihelion. Time will tell very soon.

Cliff

[earthman]

Should know tomorrow. Kills me how fast it went around the sun. It must have really picked up speed coming around the sun. Like to know the speed when she come's around and exits outward.

earthman

[Garuda]

A good site with info on comet Ison is this one: http://brucegary.net/ISON/

[whoknows]

Another good place is SDO they will have near real time sat. coverage. http://cometison.gsfc.nasa.gov/

[Chris]

As ISON comes around the sun it will finally be visible to us in North America in the night time sky.

[touched]

I was just notified by other astronomers that a diffraction spike was noticed on SOHO. Pretty cool and from what I'm told it's common when comets get closer to the sun and increase in magnitude.

[majicbar]

Should know tomorrow. Kills me how fast it went around the sun. It must have really picked up speed coming around the sun. Like to know the speed when she come's around and exits outward.

earthman Comet "ISON, which will reach a top speed of around 845,000 miles per hour on Thursday" according to one blog.

[epo333]

Published on Nov 26, 2013

This movie from the spacecraft's Heliospheric Imager shows Comet ISON, Mercury, Comet Encke and Earth over a five-day period from Nov. 20 to Nov. 25, 2013. The sun sits right of the field of view.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZi4Ecu_cfY

[majicbar]

All that remains is a cloud of dust. I guess the "Comet of the Century" was just a "puff piece" after all.

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2013/28nov13/rip_anim2.gif?PHPSESSID=g1lapgjgjb0r9dcjf2ss23lp66

[epo333]

Didn't look like Puff dust to me, it looked more like it may stay intact...?

Moving pretty fast too!

Darn, looks like my bad!!!

Comet Ison destroyed in Sun passage
By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News

Comet Ison was severely battered in its encounter with the Sun, and largely destroyed.

Telescopes saw the giant ball of ice and dust disappear behind the star, but only a dull streamer re-emerge.

Astronomers continued to search for the object, but it eventually became clear that the much vaunted "Comet of the Century" had gone out with a whimper.

Despite its great size, Ison was probably torn apart in the immense heat and tidal forces so close to the Sun.

From here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25143861

[touched]

I could be wrong but I think it is still too early to conclude. I believe more observation are needed.

Look at the latest SOHO images at the time of this post.

http://ssa.esac.esa.int/ssa/aio/product-action?RETRIEVALTYPE=LATEST_POSTCARD&FILTER=C3&INSTRUMENT=LASCO

[touched]

Comets are so unpredictable. It may have lost too much material to develop into a spectacle. It may have torn apart outer material needed to release new fissures. I believe the next several hours or perhaps even days will reveal what this thing will do. It is difficult to say at this point. I believe more observations are needed. I'm hoping for a great show like everyone else but as history has so often repeated with these things, I wont hold my breath. It could fizzle out like many have done in the past. Too many unknowns Imho at this point.

[majicbar]

I could be wrong but I think it is still too early to conclude. I believe more observation are needed.

Look at the latest SOHO images at the time of this post.

http://ssa.esac.esa.int/ssa/aio/product-action?RETRIEVALTYPE=LATEST_POSTCARD&FILTER=C3&INSTRUMENT=LASCOYou are right, while ISON may have broken up into a thousand smaller comets, there is no reason that this could not still be a spectacle to behold and admire.

[spacemaverick]

You are right, while ISON may have broken up into a thousand smaller comets, there is no reason that this could not still be a spectacle to behold and admire.

I tend to agree. Maybe the outer portions have flaked away or have been destroyed but an inner core may be still there. I am going to wait on this one and see.

[majicbar]

Debris cloud looks like it may present a good tail and will be a good research opportunity for the scientists.

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/512/

[touched]

It is possible,yet just speculation at this point, that electromagnetic (em) particles from the sun may have possibly stripped ISON's tail off as this has happened before. Time will tell. One thing is for certain at this point and that is this object is holding on and surprising the scientific community. It is going through strenuous gravitational tugging , temperature and structural changes, and now it's tail must flip a *180 opposite of the sun. It's an interesting comet to say the least !

Cliff

[touched]

Debris cloud looks like it may present a good tail and will be a good research opportunity for the scientists.

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/512/

That is one crazy comet ( if it still exists at this point). Some have called it the zombie comet, I call it the phoenix. :biggrin2:

Meanwhile, since were waiting to see if ISON lives again, there is another comet I have been observing which is an easy target at the moment and it can be found with binoculars or small telescopes using lower magnification for a wide field of view. It is comet Lovejoy and it isn't too bad. It's just at naked eye visibility. Here is a link to help those interested in finding it and others.

http://www.theskylive.com/ephemerides-computation?obj=lovejoy

This morning I viewed it once again using the smaller Meade etx-60mm refractor hand held. There wasn't any need to set up the 5" refractor. It was easily found,even through a somewhat thick layer of fog at times, near β Boötis. I have been observing this one for awhile now and it continues to brighten and display a tail .

Enjoy ! Cliff

[calikid]

Spaceweather.com confirms it. "No Return From Dead for Comet ISON".