Comet ISON Approaches Perihelion

New submitter BugNuker writes "Comet ISON has been speeding towards the sun, and while doing so, it has been getting brighter. There was hope that ISON would be 'Comet of the Century' material. That does not seem to be the case, but it still exists and it's still very interesting. Recently, ISON has undergone some outbursts, making it a near naked-eye object. ISON is still approaching perihelion (it will get there at 18:25 UTC on 28 November). For now, we can keep watching the STEREO spacecraft images for more evidence." Emily Lakdawalla of the Planetary Society put together this animated GIF of the comet from images taken by the STEREO-A spacecraft. Karl Battams put together a fascinating GIF as well. The Planetary Society has a list of information feeds and scheduled events for keeping tabs on ISON.

Comments

Perihelion

[rossdee]

"it will get there at 18:25 UTC on 28 November)"

Assuming it stays together that long

Re:Perihelion

[TWX]

"it will get there at 18:25 UTC on 28 November)" Assuming it stays together that long

Pieces of it will get there at 18:25UTC on 28 November

Or,

Steam will get there at 18:25UTC on 28 November

Re:Perihelion

[ColdWetDog]

It's winter here. The only thing you're likely to see is a hungry bear and a bunch of clouds.

We don't do tan lines in Alaska. Global warming hasn't quite got that far.

SDO near real-time images

[teridon]

The NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will be providing near real-time images/movies at http://cometison.gsfc.nasa.gov/ on Nov 28 between 12:45 pm and 1:00 pm ET (1745 - 1900 UT)

More Info on ISON

[BugNuker]

ISON is currently moving at 117 km/s! You can track ISON live here: http://theskylive.com/ison-tracker
Many theories have been going around about the breakup. This forums is a great place for info: http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/comets-ml/conversations/topics
Also, you can checkout real-time images of ISON as they are submitted here: http://spaceweathergallery.com/ison_gallery.html

Also, If interested, I've built a site with lots of ISON information. http://isontracker.com/ - Updates everyday

Oh, you think you're funny ...

[oneiros27]

Imagine being one of the people who read the e-mail address placed on error messages on the STEREO servers.

Then imagine that STEREO had a highly compressed near-real time data stream that was used for space weather forecasting. And that the files were replaced once the full-resolution data was downlinked and processed.

And, by working for the government, you have a duty to respond to requests for information from the public, even when they're being completely abusive in their messages.

I've probably spent weeks of my life responding to people trying to explain that no, NASA is not covering up evidence of UFOs, because we know what those items are-- compression artifacts, internal reflections, SEP hits, etc. (in this particular case, it's pixel bleed on the CCDs).

And there's no reason to view some GIF that someone made when you can just view a slideshow of the images directly. It'll let you speed up / slow down the images (once you've downloaded them). After that, it should move into the field of view of COR2A

Re:Oh, you think you're funny ...

[s.petry]

I did comment as a joke, but I can imagine how bad that would be. I have tried to explain the same basic concepts to people and their eyes tend to glaze over as soon as you say a two syllable word. It's not just compression artifacts to deal with either. I have met people truly convinced that the international space station is a UFO in the sky. *sigh*

Re:Oh, you think you're funny ...

[PopeRatzo]

I've probably spent weeks of my life responding to people trying to explain that no, NASA is not covering up evidence of UFOs, because we know what those items are-- compression artifacts, internal reflections, SEP hits, etc. [nasa.gov] (in this particular case, it's pixel bleed on the CCDs [nasa.gov]).

Of course that's what you're going to say, because you're covering up evidence of UFOs! You think someone who works for NASA is just gonna come out and say, "Yeah, we've been visited by aliens. Where do you think semiconducters came from"? Of course not. They're gonna say, "Oh, that's swamp gas that picked up that cow and surgically removed its organs and genitalia and then put him on the ground without a single drop of blood anywhere." Pixel bleed my butt.

Anyway, you're probably just not high up enough in the government to know about the aliens. Nobody's blaming you.

But it's pretty clear that it wasn't "pixel bleed" that abducted my dog Smokey! Poor little guy, they're probably making hybrids out of him or something. Even 30 years later, it still hurts. Damn you, ET!

Re:Oh, you think you're funny ...

[magic maverick]

Your dog, that wasn't ET. That was me. Don't worry, no hybrids were made. But Smokey did make a damn fine stew. Ah, that was one of the more memorable meals in my life, it was so good.

I wish I hadn't lost the recipe, it's been bugging me for years now. I've tried to recreate that stew, but I just haven't managed. Anyway, thanks for the yummy dog.

Re:Oh, you think you're funny ...

[amicusNYCL]

NASA also put together a video of the same slideshow:

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

It's pretty amazing to watch a view of our solar system in motion like that, with us in the picture even. I believe the smaller comet in the video is Encke.

I'll believe it when I see it

[Anonymous Coward]

Hale-Bopp from the top of a Welsh mountain with no light pollution for tens of miles around on the wekend it was at its' maximum was one the most awesome natural specatcles I've ever seen : it streched across the whole half of the sky it occupied and the movement around the head and out into the tail was clearly visible over time. As we've seen nothing yet with the naked eye and it might yet still burn up I'll opt for healthy skepticism right now. However if it does come up with the goods, try and make an effort to get yourself out of areas with light pollution if you can and see something you'll never forget.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[Sockatume]

What's to be sceptical about? This is our first shot at observing a completely new sungrazer. Whether it becomes some spectacular fireworks show comes way, way down the awesomeness scale in comparison.

Sungrazer Twitter feed -- a useful source

[jeffb (2.718)]

I've never been much of a Twitter fan, but this feed has been excellent for links to timely information and discussion:

SungrazerComets on Twitter

Re:Animated gifs: second object?

[ihtoit]

that'll be Encke

Re:It would really be nice if. . .

[Sockatume]

The info's out there, just not in these articles. For the northern hemisphere it'll be above the horizon in the east before dawn and (as December progresses) in the west after sunset. You won't get text alerts for a comet (time-insensitive, unpredictable) but Heavens Above, my preferred satellite-flare web site, will give you simple "where-to-look" instructions for ISON. You're better served by getting one of the many excellent astronomy smartphone apps; I use Star Walk but Distant Suns is also very popular. They're expensive as apps go but they're totally worth it.

Happy hunting!