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.