David Eicher, editor of Astronomy magazine, gives this clear-eyed update on Comet ISON, the latest “Comet of the Century.”
His prognosis: It’s still too early to tell exactly how spectacular Comet ISON will be, but rest assured that it’ll be bright, a “naked-eye comet from mid-November through year’s end.”
Here’s a nice view of Comet ISON from the Hubble telescope, April 10, 2013:
A recent article from Discovery.com, “Will Comet ISON Be Another Kohoutek PR Disaster?”
Comet Kohoutek is the star of my new novel THE NIGHT OF THE COMET. Discovered in 1973, Kohoutek was hyped as the “comet of the century,” and it ignited a brief worldwide craze for all things cometary.
This year’s Comet ISON has also been called another comet of the century, a “dream comet.” It was spotted last September by a couple of amateur astronomers, and is expected to be at its brightest around Thanksgiving-time. Here’s its projected orbit:
Recently, however, astronomers have begun scaling back their predictions for ISON. It might not really be another comet of the century, they caution, wary of being burnt again as they were by Kohoutek, which turned out to be one of the most disappointing comets in history, a complete dud.
But no matter how big or small of a showing it makes, astronomers say Comet ISON will still be a treasure trove of science, an “extraordinary event.”
Says one astronomer, Casey Lisse of the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins University:
“We shouldn’t be scared of the K-word.”
Here’s a depiction of how Comet Ison will look at the beginning of December, when it’s now projected to be at its brightest:
(From Sky & Telescope magazine.)
Lately, astronomers have been trimming back on their predictions for Ison as the new “comet of the century.”
This, fortunately, hasn’t stopped the conspiracy theorists, whose wild suspicions about Comet Ison are ricocheting around the web:
* Comet Ison is being trailed by seven UFOs. There’s photographic evidence of this that NASA is desperately trying to keep from the public. Here’s video of the UFOs and Ison, if you’re curious.
* Ison is really the mysterious “Planet X” or “Planet Nibiru,” on a collision course with the Earth.
* Ison, as it sweeps past Mars, will yank the planet from its orbit and send it crashing into the Earth, bringing an end to world as we know it.
I wouldn’t worry too much about these predictions, not yet. Better, you might plan to do what I intend to do when Ison arrives:
Find a nice dark field at the edge of town, bring some friends or go alone, turn off all your electronic devices, look up, and be prepared to be astonished.
Here’s an artist’s rendition of how Comet ISON, the “Comet of the Century,” might look in December this year, from earthsky.org:
And here’s a recent piece in Space.com that recalls another famous Comet of the Century:
“Remember Kohoutek?
“If you’re of a certain age, this story might have a familiar ring. Indeed, exactly 40 years ago, a comet by the name of Kohoutek was also discovered at a tremendously large distance from the sun, en route to a close solar encounter in late December 1973.
“Like ISON, Kohoutek was expected to dazzle — perhaps more than 100 times brighter than Venus. It, too, was dubbed “the comet of the century,” but in the end, Kohoutek turned out to be much dimmer and put on a rather disappointing show.”
Plans are afloat to launch a giant balloon into the atmosphere to study Comet ISON as it sweeps around the Sun this fall. The Balloon Rapid Response for ISON (BRRISON) will carry a gondola of instruments up into near space to take photos and measurements of the comet, which scientists are calling the “Comet of the Century.”
Brr-ISON!
The Hubble Space Telescope snapped new photos of Comet ISON (“The Comet of the Century”) a few days ago. It’s still set to make a big appearance around Thanksgiving. Here’s a photo:
And here’s a nifty animation of Comet ISON’s projected trajectory around the Sun, seen from different angles. Don’t worry, it only looks like the comet is colliding with Mars and the Earth.