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NASA / JPL-Caltech / UMD (Tony Farnham)
The comet that may put on a spectacular light show during a November date with the sun was observed by the Deep Impact mission. The spacecraft has also had close fly-bys of comet's Tempel 1 and Hartley 2 and scientific observations of Garradd.
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." [Photos of Comet ISON in Night Sky]
Bringing everyone together
Russian amateur astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok discovered Comet ISON in September 2012 after poring over photographs taken by a telescope run by the International Scientific Optical Network. Hence the comet's official name, which is C/2012 S1 (ISON).
NASA / JPL-Caltech
This is the orbital trajectory of comet C/2012 S1 (ISON). The comet is currently located just inside the orbit of Jupiter. In November 2013, ISON will pass less than 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) from the sun's surface. The fierce heating it experiences during this close approach to the sun could turn the comet into a bright naked-eye object.
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.
Comet ISON could put on a spectacular show around this time, experts say, potentially glowing so brightly that it's visible in the daytime sky. (The comet poses no impact threat to Earth.)
Skywatchers aren't the only people looking forward to the icy wanderer's solar encounter. Astronomers are excited as well, for ISON's flyby could give them a rare window into comet composition.
"Sungrazers experience the most intense thermal and gravitational stresses of any comet. There's a lot of sublimation of material that doesn't normally sublimate," Battams told Space.com. "Once (ISON) gets really close in to the sun, then we could start to see some of the composition that you wouldn't normally get."
So Battams and his colleagues have contacted major ground-based observatories, raising awareness of the comet's flyby and encouraging them to solicit ISON-observing proposals. The response has been warm, with telescope operators typically voicing enthusiasm about the campaign, Battams said.
The CIOC crew has also reached out to some spacecraft mission teams, asking them to consider taking a look at the comet at some point. And a number of them are already on board.
"Observing campaigns are planned by the SOHO, STEREO and SDO solar missions; by Spitzer, Chandra and Hubble space telescopes; and by the Deep Impact, JUNO, Mercury MESSENGER, Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions," the CIOC website states. "Other missions at or on Mars are looking into observing ISON, as are a handful of other NASA Planetary missions. We welcome and encourage our international partners to contact us and join in the fun!"
In fact, Deep Impact has already begun its ISON work. The NASA probe, which has also studied several other comets in deep space, snapped its first photos of Comet ISON in January.
Sizzle or fizzle?
There's no guarantee that ISON will live up to the hype; it may fall apart before even making its closest solar approach. Comets are notoriously unpredictable and sometimes fizzle out despite great expectations, as Comet Kahoutek did in 1973.
The wild-card factor with ISON is especially high, Battams said, since this is apparently the comet's first trip through the inner solar system from the distant, icy Oort cloud. Astronomers and skywatchers probably won't get a real sense of how the comet is going to behave until early August, when water ice should start sublimating in earnest, he added.
But the CIOC Team is proceeding as if Comet ISON will put on a dazzling show, because that's the scientifically prudent thing to do.
"We have to go forward with optimism and prepare for something really special, something really spectacular, and hope that it happens," Battams said. "If it does, we're absolutely going to be in place to take an unprecedented and comprehensive set of observations of the comet."
Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
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Leave a Comment:
I can't wait! I haven't seen a comet compare to Hyakutake back in 1996. If Ison outdoes that comet, we are in for a spectacular sight! Hopefully no cloudy nights will get in the way.
It's always cloudy here when something cool is going to happen.
Sequester THAT!
LOL
:-)
Maybe we will have a real life "Night of the Comet" this time! (If you don't understand the inference just Google the name and watch the movie)!
And it can be seen in the day light with the comet being so bright.....now that is kickass. Along with the Hubble taking snap shots, that should deliver astounding pictures. BESIDES being Thanksgiving....you can have all weekend to look at it or for it!!
It is all G W Bush's fault... unless everything works out well.
Hale-Bopp was pretty stunning, no?
It will be interesting to see if this comet survives its close encounter with the Sun. The article says 680,000 miles (1.1 kilometers) and the picture caption says 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers), I wonder which distance from the Sun is correct. In either case, this is an extremely close pass. Unless this comet is pretty good size and has a fairly large rocky core I would think that it might evaporate entirely as it goes by the Sun at such a close distance. No matter what happens it sounds like it is going to be a great show to see.
I saw Hyakutake overhead one night while I was in a rural part of West Virginia. It was one of the most beautiful celestial sights I have ever seen, covering a long graceful arc in the night sky. I wish I had had a camera with me to try to capture that sight correctly, as most photos I've seen are dreadfully overexposed and too bright to show the delicate details of the amazing tail.
Hopefully, this new comet will give others a chance to sample the same excitement and wonder that I felt back then.
The scientifically prudent thing to do? Why does this statement, by an astrophysicist and computational scientist, make me uncomfortable? Why do I get the feeling I've heard something like this before?
Comet Kohoutek - can't anyone spell any longer?
Never ever ever hype a comet until its visible in the sky with the naked eye.
Elentir wasn't misspelling anything. Hyakutake was a different comet.
Hale-Bopp was really spectacular--I saw it from the Sonoran desert.
bein a good speiller meanz you suck at evree thin elses......
Probably another cometic dud.
Why not just name it Kahoutek II?
Should be interesting! I hope it's better than Panstarrs rather lackluster appearance.
I remember Kohoutek, so I'll wait until the actual show begins before I start jumping up and down.
I will certainly be watching like everybody else if this comet comes close to its potential.
However, along with Kahoutek, I also remember the comet Hale-Bop, and how it inspired the heaven's gate cult to commit mass suicide in hopes of allowing their spirits to board the space ship "known" to be following in the comet's wake.
The body of each cult adherent was found lying in his or her bed, identically dressed, and carrying five dollars in paper currency and three quarters, said to be reserved for some interplanetary toll (nobody could make up such stuff).
Anyway, let's hope this "comet of the century" puts on the expected show, but does not "inspire" any such crazy behavior.
dman,
"does not "inspire" any such crazy behavior"
But what is crazy to one person seems like perfect sense to another as in the case of Heaven's Gate. So maybe we're all crazy.
When ones unique beliefs causes one to act in direct conflict with one's physical well-being, and in the belief that this is somehow to one's benefit, I would term that symptomatic of insanity. Maybe this is not a universally accepted definition, but it is one which seems to work in this world.
So, I'm sticking to the belief that castrating yourself, then committing suicide in hopes that an alien space craft will allow one's spirit to board, all the while equipping one's corpse, which will remain on Earth, with paper currency and low value coinage to pay for the trip, is crazy.
I wonder what the exchange rate is for U.S. paper currency on Alpha Centauri. Currency backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, which this cult believed would soon be obliterated, along with all life on earth.
Oh yeah, that's not too crazy, or too stupid.
wearing black sneakers if my memory serves me well...
The toll sign next to the ferryman reads "Exact Change Only"
According to Wikipedia (), the figure caption is wrong. It should read "will pass less than 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) from the sun's
surfacecenter."ya, everyone knows wikipedia is the ultimate source of truth...lol
Well... now I know what the weather will be like in my area for the end of november. It will be so cloudy we wont be able to see the sun, let alone a comet . It just seems to always happen for me this way. :(
I imagine it is a very slim chance that the comet will pass through Earth's orbit, trailing debris that will add another meteoroid event to our annual calendar. But I can hope!
From the Figure caption: ISON will pass less than 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) from the sun's surface.
From the text: ISON is forecast to zoom just 680,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) above the solar surface
So which is it? The editing and proofing is so risible in these article that I will volunteer to proofread and correct all of the gibberish from CNN. I will do 10 articles a day for free but we need some more volunteers.
Correct me if I'm wrong Bob, but I believe this article is located on NBCnews.com, not CNN and it should be 'articles' if you're going to use the word 'these'. Lucky for us, you have agreed to work for free on the 10 articles a day that you'll proofread and correct....
Matthew 3:4
Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
And my daddy done said, yappity yappity yap.
and this is relevant how?
no camel hair, locusts or honey on a comet, just a big iceball
Is that how they got rid of them all?
By using a honey dipper?
honey dipper john....he's a hell of a man and he just won't quit he spends all day with other people's shi....
Hmmm, so why is the comet's first trip through the inner solar system? Could it have hit something in the Oort cloud that deflected it, or come close to Saturn so it pulled it out of its usual orbit? Based upon its trajectory, they should be able to backtrack somewhat and get an idea of where it came from.
From the other side of the orbit
It's the first trip through the inner solar system because previously it had been traveling on Carnival
Yeah - it decided a boat trip was safer after it's flight on a 787 was cancelled.
Here's hoping that Comet ISON will be at least half as good as they it could be and visible to the naked eye ... after the disappointing Panstarr, we need a little excitement from the heavens
This should be exciting, assuming it lives up to its hype. Panstarr was briefly visible--and quite bright--last evening right after sunset. Anything that novel and exotic is exciting and remarkable regardless of its apparent size. It's not the comet's fault our planet is sometimes in the wrong place at the wrong time. Halley's Comet in 1910 was incredibly spectacular, I'm told; as a big fan of Mark Twain, I wanted to watch it in 1986 with special reverence, but there wasn't a lot to see that time around. I showed Panstarr to my teen age daughter, told her it was her first comet, and to be sure to say hi to Halley's for me in 2062, likely long after I'm gone...
So, what happens when one day nasa says get ready folks this ones going to hit?
stick you head between your legs and kiss your ... goodbye
That day won't come. We may get wiped out by an asteroid or a comet but if "they" know it's coming they won't let the general public know before hand.
Imagine if we knew a comet the size of our moon was going to collide with the earth on May 15th 2014.
Would you continue paying your mortgage? Would you quit work and enjoy life before it's too late?
Duck and cover....and use duct tape and cellophane
There are enough amateurs watching these things, that there is no way NASA or anyone else could hide a collision.
When is science going to do something useful beside just observing comets?
They are a free ride around the solar system if not the galaxy. Science should be looking to attach a probe to the thing when it flies by, and hitch a ride on it. A free ride, forever. Or until it hits something. The information gathering potential is off the chart. Not just regarding the comet and its workings, but everything it flies near.
Every single object that flies near earth should get a hitchhiker attached to it. You could even name it that. Hitchhiker 1, 2, 3, etc.
Ohh...I like that. A very good idea. How it would work who knows, but still, I like it!
Interesting idea...I think it would depend greatly on the composition of the comet. If there's enough solid material in the thing that ISN'T ice, potentially a spacecraft could latch on for a ride. Also it can't go TOO close to the sun (as this one is doing) because a spacecraft would be unable to withstand those kinds of temperatures.
NASA has probably thought of this in the wake of their Stardust and (current) Deep Impact missions. We have to know more about these things before we can go trying to land on them, but once we've discovered enough, I wouldn't be surprised if we go for it.
Are you crazy? That would bankrupt us.
Ahh, somebody didn't read the article.
This comet will leave a trail of Zombie dust in it's wake. You have been warned !
Anything "out of this world" that we have NO control over, always seem to interest me. Comets, Asteroids, Solar Flares and such show us (humans) how insignificant we are.
Long after the human race is extinct, comets will continue to pass by some celestial body.
As long as it doesn't fall on mine........Is it me or does it seem to be a lot more stuff out there doing near misses.........so far
I'm going to stand out in the yard with a catchers mitt.
At that close proximity to the Sun, the Sun's gravitational field should pull it apart, at which point it should largely vaporize in the intense radiant heat of the Sun. In my estimation, this should be a real "show stopper", so personally I can hardly wait (especially since we have 'oodles' to learn from this)! - RC
(Get ready with your spectrographs, everyone! We just might get to see the inside of this thing. God only knows what we can learn from this!)
I thought comet was something you cleaned the bathroom with.
Here I always thought Comet was one of Santa's reindeer! From what I've seen here, looks like Comet will be getting a little too close to the sun and Santa might be enjoying venison for Thanksgiving. Then he'll be holding tryouts for Comets slot on the sleigh team.
I've seen quite a number of comets including Halley (not as disappointing as the media said it was), Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp. The last one was anticipated by over a year, giving time for $ - grubbing superstitious New Agey culties to spread Armageddon rumors and lead to cult suicides. I hope that doesn't happen again. God made comets for our pleasure, just like He engineers eclipses of the Sun and Moon. With all the crap going on today we need a special treat like this. It also shows that God controls the Universe so when this "tailed star" graces our sky let's all celebrate and everybody Wang Chung. Peace.
your seemingly stupid ...there is NO god soooooo WTF why would you talk about cult's and then show how you belong to one ???????
Are you kidding me? There is a reason why in ancient time, comets were thought to be harbingers of death and destruction - you only have to look at what happened on Jupiter in 1994 (Shoemaker - Levy 9).
Shamayim : means > ( a sky full of fire ) I hope my obama care comes in the mail soon ,I may need it !
Do they have any estimates on the size of this comet yet? I have not seen any, just curious how massive this thing is.
Thank goodness I don't have to sell my bunker now.
Room for rent in a happening doomsday bunker. Hot chicks only.
Anyone laying odds as to how many doomsday cult suicide groups this one will bring? Also, SeattleHome no hot chicks want to hang out in your moms basement with you sorry.