Comet ISON

[08rubicon]

  Please forgive me for expressing an opinion. However, I see a swarm of
smaller rocks.May have already broken up..
   rubicon

[sky otter]

O8rubicon

there are absolutely no apologies needed for having an opinion

really the more the better for discovery
and
that's an interesting observation



i have tons of opinions and i only apologize if i think i was mean with them

it's all good

and welcome

[rdunk]

Regardless of what is actually going on with this "comet", this shot of the interior make-up shows a finiteness that one (me) would not normally expect to see, as a "comet" flares through the universe.

Also, I do wonder about the actual size of the "white section", as at this distance, and as clearly we can see it, it must be pretty big.

By the way, several days ago I did make a comparison of ISON's distance from the Sun as ISON goes around it. I think it interesting that ISON'S distance from the Sun will equal about one Sun diameter length - 800,000 miles plus/minus.

[deuem]

Sky requested me to bring this work over to her thread. It is the flicker photo worked.






And the Questionable Mother Rock Ship, Dig in...



Have fun, what do you all see?
Deuem

[sky otter]

thanks Deuem

ya know ususally when you do this thing that you do i see something different in the work up
but this object seems to keep it's shape

so is it two solid objects side by side with lots of energy around them or two blank spots
between front and back power points..

beats me

just plain-ass wierd

[sky otter]

ah ha..nasa knows all...




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/22/nasa-new-how-to-cook-comet-video_n_4325094.html?utm_hp_ref=science




NASA's New 'How To Cook A Comet' VIDEO Comes Just In Time
The Huffington Post  |  Posted: 11/22/2013 3:52 pm EST

You don't need NASA to tell you how to cook an egg. Mac and cheese? You can handle that too. But when it comes to knowing how to "cook" a comet, NASA's probably your best bet -- especially now that the space agency just released a fascinating new video entitled, um, "How To Cook A Comet."

As a comet approaches the sun, it's heated by solar radiation -- and material on its surface changes directly from solid to gaseous form. Called sublimation, this process gives rise to the characteristic plume of dust that trails behind the comet. The comet will disintegrate if it's not strong enough to withstand the sun's intense heat and strong gravitational pull.

NASA's new video comes just in time for skywatchers with an interest in Comet ISON, which has been called the "comet of the century." ISON is expected to reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28.

Will the space rock be cooked to oblivion? Astronomers are keeping a watchful eye.

As NASA says in the video's YouTube description:

Even if the comet does not survive, tracking its journey will help scientists understand what the comet is made of, how it reacts to its environment, and what this explains about the origins of the solar system. Closer to the sun, watching how the comet and its tail interact with the vast solar atmosphere can teach scientists more about the sun itself.

[deuem]

My money is on it will make it around. See if I win. I think this comet is pitted, like coral and has collected a lot of space junk that is now burning off in at least 6 trails. The main head of the comet seems to me to be in one piece and very large and hard. [not really burning yet]

The sun might eat it but I don't think it will break it. If it makes it then the surface should be smoother on the way out. All the pot holes will be melted full again. Way out in space it will hit other objects and collect new material for the next light show when it comes around again.

Deuem

[sky otter]

it'sssss meltinggggggggggggggggggg.....oh no

well we are getting snow and rain and snow..so i know i would get eyes-on..sigh


http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/26/tech/comet-ison-update/

Much anticipated comet may be in trouble By Amanda Barnett, CNN
updated 1:54 PM EST, Tue November 26, 2013 


(CNN) -- ISON, the most closely watched comet in recent years, may be falling apart as it nears its close encounter with the sun.

Comets are giant snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that can be several miles in diameter. When they get near the sun, they warm up and spew out some of the gas and dirt, creating a tail that can stretch for thousands of miles. Most comets are in the outer part of our solar system. When they get close enough for us to see them, scientists study them for clues about how our solar system formed.

When ISON was first discovered, hopes were high that it might become visible to the naked eye, meaning everyone might be able see it, not just those with good telescopes who took the trouble to find it. There was talk it might even rival some of the Great Comets like Halley's or Hale-Bopp and spread a huge tail across the sky.

But some observers on Tuesday reported online that the comet is not nearly as bright as it has been in recent days and that it may be pouring out dust.

This could mean the comet's core, or nucleus, has "completely disrupted, releasing an enormous volume of dust," NASA's Comet ISON Observing Campaign says in its November 25 online update.

But other observers say images taken by NASA's STEREO spacecraft are "encouraging evidence that the comet still exists," Padma Yanamandra-Fisher with the ISON campaign told reporters on the campaign's Facebook page. She added that it's too early to tell what kind of shape the comet is in, though.

"I believe the next couple of days will be crucial to determine the post-perihelion appearance of the comet," Yanamandra-Fisher said. Perihelion is the point in an object's path that is closest to the sun.

5 things to know about Comet ISON

Whatever its final fate, she said, ISON has "provided a wonderful window into the world of comets. The full understanding of this comet and its place in the taxonomy of comets will only come in hindsight."

ISON was discovered in September of 2012 by astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok using a telescope near Kislovodsk, Russia, that is part of the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON). ISON -- officially named C/2012 S -- was 585 million miles away at the time. Its amazing journey through the solar system has been chronicled by amateur astronomers and by space telescopes. NASA has even created a toolkit for ISON fans.

Confusion about its fate isn't new for ISON watchers.

"From the moment of discovery, ISON has been a confusing, frustrating, dynamic and unpredictable object. In other words, it has been a very typical comet!" said Karl Battams, an astrophysicist with the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington.

The glare of the sun has blocked most ground-based observations, but NASA has a fleet of spacecraft watching as ISON plunges toward the sun. If it hasn't already broken up, it will skim about 730,000 miles above its surface on Thanksgiving Day and could put on a sky show in early December when it moves out of the glare of the sun.

The comet will make its closest approach to Earth on December 26, and, no, it won't hit us. But for now, we wait to learn ISON's fate.

"I am excited at marking the progress of this comet that has captivated the world from its discovery and the possibility of it being a Great Comet," Yanamandra-Fisher told CNN.com. "I am glad that I was able to be part of its journey."



.................................................

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/11/25/comet_ison_sudden_drop_in_ice_output.html?wpisrc=burger_bar

Quick ISON Update: Is It Still There?

By Phil Plait


A report has just come in from Michal Drahus, a postdoctoral astronomer at Caltech, saying that far-infrared observations of the comet show a sudden drop in light emitted by certain kinds of molecules (specifically HCN embedded in ice), while others are reporting that, at roughly the same time, the comet has apparently blasted out a lot of dust. This is not yet confirmed, but a possible explanation is that the comet disrupted.

That's not the only possible explanation! It's been suggested (message #12) that ice is







..........................................



Last glimpse of Comet ISON before Thursday encounter with sun
By Mike Wall

Published November 26, 2013
Space.com

A NASA probe orbiting Mercury has returned new photos of Comet ISON, and a number of other spacecraft are all set to document the icy wanderer's much-anticipated solar flyby on Thursday, Nov. 28.

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.

rest of article here:  http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/11/26/comet-ison-spotted-by-mercury-probe/



.................................



http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/comet-ison-live-blog.html



Comet ISON live blog
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla and Bruce Betts

2013/11/26 04:45 CST

[sky otter]

http://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html



WATCH LIVE THURSDAY: Comet ISON Buzzes the Sun -
NASA Webcast @ 1 p.m. ETby SPACE.com


Staff   |   November 27, 2013 12:00pm ET

NASA will hold a live Google+ hangout on Thursday (Nov. 28)
to webcast the solar passage of Comet ISON  as it whips around the sun.


The webcast will begin at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) and last until 3:30 p.m. EST (2030 GMT).


You will be able to watch the webcast live in the window below at the start time.


LATEST STORY: Comet ISON's Thursday Sun Encounter a Thanksgiving Feast for NASA

[A51Watcher]

Video of ISON from the last 5 days -


NASA captures Comet ISON speeding toward the sun

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/11/27/comet-ison/3767561/



Umm... whats that other thing besides the comet? Another one?

[Amaterasu]

Very good question!

[sky otter]

oh boo hoo
it was even on this evenings news..some good pics
gotta go check out the nasa pics   


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


Comet Ison destroyed in Sun passage


By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News
28 November 2013 Last updated at 16:21 ET

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.

The European Space Agency's experts on the Soho Sun-watching satellite called the death of the comet at about 21:30 GMT.

"Our Soho scientists have confirmed, Comet Ison is gone," Esa's twitter feed announced.

Ison had captivated skywatchers with its promise ever since it was discovered by Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok in 2012.

A "fresh", 2km-wide object flung in towards the inner Solar System from its home far beyond the outer planet Neptune, it was hoped it might produce a brilliant tail that would arc across the night sky, perhaps for weeks.

And, as it got closer and closer to the Sun, its ices did indeed begin to vaporise, releasing dust that shimmered in a distinctive trailing stream.

But from early on, it was clear Ison was unlikely to be spectacular; it was just not brightening in the way experienced comet watchers had anticipated.

This led scientists to fear for its survival when it eventually grazed past the star at a distance of just 1.2 million km at 18:35 GMT on Thursday.

Soho followed Ison as it began its sweep around the back of the Sun, but then failed to pick up a coherent object at the time it was supposed to re-emerge. A streak in the imagery was interpreted as the last fizzling of debris.

Other telescopes such as Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory could detect no clear sign of the comet's nucleus, either.

Passing close to the Sun, Ison would have been subjected to temperatures over 2,000C. And the immense gravity of the star would also have pulled and squeezed on the object as it tumbled end over end.

All the evidence suggests Ison's nucleus was torn apart in the close pass, in the same way that Comet Lovejoy - a previous hopeful in 2011 - was disrupted.

Comets will stay in the news, however. Next year, in October, Comet Siding Spring will breeze past Mars at a distance of little more than 100,000km. And then in November, the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission will attempt to place a probe on the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

[Amaterasu]

I wonder if it went into a sunspot...  There are some who are saying that the sun is a transfer point to other places in the universe and that the spots are openings to enter and emerge from.  If ISON was a ship and went into a sun spot...  Maybe it was a faction here that went home?

Just musing.

[deuem]

I guess I lost that bet, gold to you sky. darn comets
D

[rdunk]

ISON possibly just stopped to recharge the batteries!!