Comet ISON’s Day of Reckoning Is Upon Us!

Photo Credit NASA

NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, is monitoring Comet ISON as it approaches the sun. NASA’s twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft are parked in Langrange zones, known as the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points, each centered about 93 million miles away along Earth’s orbit.

The latest movie from the STEREO-A spacecraft’s Heliospheric Imager shows the comet moving in from the left side over a two-day period from Nov. 20 to Nov. 22, 2013.

In addition to Earth and Mercury, Comet Encke can also be seen moving through the middle of the view. The sun sits outside the field of view of this camera, located to the right, off-screen, hinted at by the steady stream of particles, called the solar wind, moving in from the right.

In addition NASA’s Messenger spacecraft snapped new images of Comet ISON on Nov. 19 as the icy object sped by Mercury at a distance of 22.5 million miles. Meanwhile, the agency’s sun-studying Stereo-A probe captured its own ISON photo on Nov. 21, and a phalanx of other solar space observatories will watch the comet’s close encounter with the sun on Thursday, which will bring it within just 730,000 miles of the solar surface.

Will it be toast? We’ll find out soon enough.

Published on Nov 27, 2013

Comet Hunter Don Machholz on what could be the celestial event of the century.
http://www.thecomethunter.com/

Comet ISON Expected to Travel Around Sun on Thanksgiving Day

Published on Nov 26, 2013

Comet ISON is expected to travel around the sun on Thanksgiving Day, but its survival is in question.

The comet is expected to pass just about 684,000 miles from the sun’s surface. It will be traveling 234 miles per second and heat up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit or 2,760 degrees Celsius.

Comet ISON is ten times bigger than the only comet that has survived its trip around the sun – Comet Lovejoy – so some scientists say the chances of its survival look good.

If Comet ISON survives, experts say there will be a bright show in the sky starting the 1st of December at dawn, slowly, visibly rising. It will be seen near the Big Dipper on December 17th.

If it doesn’t survive, the comet’s ice will vaporize as well as its metal and rock.

But NASA Scientist Dr. Michelle Thaller, said this could help scientists learn more about the solar system and the buildings blocks that formed the Earth billions of years ago.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) NASA SCIENTIST DR. MICHELLE THALLER SAYING:

“If it actually crumbles into pieces, in some ways that’s better for scientists because we will be able to see inside the comet and see what the chemistry is like and that’s the whole point. This is a preserved bit of the early solar system and we really want to know what conditions were like four and a half billion years ago.”

The comet was discovered in September 2012 by two astronomers using the Russian International Scientific Optical Network, which the name ISON comes from.

STEREO Watches Comet ISON, Nov. 20-25, 2013

Published on Nov 26, 2013

This movie from the spacecraft’s Heliospheric Imager shows Comet ISON, Mercury, Comet Encke andEarth over a five-day period from Nov. 20 to Nov. 25, 2013. The sun sits right of the field of view of this camera. Credit: NASA/STEREO
Download a copy of this video athttp://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/…

COMET ISON — WHAT NEXT? — 26 NOV 2013

Published on Nov 26, 2013

COMET ISON — WHAT NEXT? — 26 NOV 2013
(BEST SEEN, FULL SCREEN!)

ISON/IT IS ON NOW/Solar Burst

Published on Nov 26, 2013

The Sun Erupts as Ison approaches. Lasco Real Time Image Link-http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/r…

Sun fires HUGE CME at ISON!

Published on Nov 26, 2013

The Sun just launched a HUGE CME at ISON on November 27,01:47 UTC 2013.

http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-b…

Comet ISON vs. The SUN [featuring BOA -- EAT YOU UP]

Published on Nov 27, 2013

ISON AND THE SUN~~
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/music-vid…
http://www.mtviggy.com/videos/boa-eat…