Comet of the Century? New Comet ISON Views Herald an Amazing Show This Year
Are you getting excited about this comet? I have been following this for a while now, and it seems every time a new report comes out the anticipation grows. If this "Comet of the Century" fizzles there are going to be a lot of embarrassed astronomers.
An exceptional comet flying ever closer
to the sun may offer an amazing naked eye sight to Earth dwellers
this fall as it gradually brightens.
As comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) continues to
approach the sun, it is slowly responding to the increasing warmth of
the sun and getting progressively brighter. The comet is getting
considerable scrutiny from both amateur and professional scientists
because it's a rare sungrazing comet, destined to approach to within
730,000 miles (1.17 million kilometers) of the surface of the sun on
Nov. 28. Because of this extremely close approach, comet ISON holds
the "potential" to flare into a dazzling object —
possibly becoming bright enough to be briefly glimpsed in broad
daylight.
Although still quite far from the sun
and very faint, the comet has been imaged by two orbiting
observatories. Astronomers from the University of Maryland at College
Park and Lowell Observatory used NASA's Swift satellite to check out
the comet during January and February. Using images acquired from
Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope, the team was able to make
initial estimates of the comet's water and dust production and then
used these values to determine the size of ISON's icy nucleus.
These observations revealed that each
minute ISON was shedding about 56 tons (51,000 kg) of dust, or about
two-thirds the mass of an unfueled space shuttle. Jets powered by
sublimating ice also release dust, which reflects sunlight and
brightens the comet.
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