Space Sciences Who's excited about the comet this year?

[Tom L.]

I forget its designation, but it might be as bright as a full moon at its best. It could be a "dud" like Kohoutek back in the 1970s, but time will tell...

Hale-Bopp was impressive back in the 1990s. It would have been even more so if it had approached more closely to Earth. There was a smaller, dimmer comet that was visible for a short time before Hale-Bopp, and I saw that one too. I didn't see Halley's Comet when it swung by in 1986; I think it also was far away from Earth and not easy to see this time around.

 

[Envy]

When?

 

[ledboots]

Excitement continues to rise among both professional and amateur astronomers about Comet ISON, which on Nov. 28 of this year might become one of the brightest comets ever seen, outshining such recent dazzlers as Comet Hale-Bopp (1997) and Comet McNaught (2007). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50413226/ns/technology_and_science-space/

 

[KLS52]

I'm always interested in these things but never manage to see any of them.

 

[Tom L.]

Thanks, ledboots- I should have done a bit of googling to find out the name of the comet and when it would probably be at its brightest before I posted.

Karen, you at least got to see Hale-Bopp, didn't you, I hope? It wasn't nearly as bright as Halley has sometimes been, but it was visible for about 2 months, I think. I've noticed that spectacular astronomical events tend to cause cloudy weather.

A few years before Hale-Bopp came by, we had an annular solar eclipse visible from Eastern North America, and a bunch of my co-workers and I went outside with our improvised safe-eclipse-viewing equipment to see the show. A few small clouds came by just as near-totality was about to happen, but we cussed 'em off. Seeing a total solar eclipse has yet to be crossed off my bucket list, but I guess annular eclipses are even less common.

 

[mary1]

Ahh good to have advance notice and put in my calendar~~!

 

[RabbitLuvr]

I would be more interested if it was suppose to hit the Earth.

 

[Tom L.]

^^^Well, then we'd have to put together some sort of "Armageddon" team (was that the title of the Bruce Willis movie where an asteroid is coming at Earth, two space shuttles go out to it, and they blast it into two pieces with a nuclear bomb so that each piece goes around us?)

Oh... wait... we don't got no space shuttles anymore...

Bummer. This was such a pretty planet.

 

[FortyTwo]

Obligatory Mark Twain comet reference!

 

[Freesia]

I got to see Comet McNaught in 2007, it was very prominent. Im not sure if this one will be visible in the southern skies or not though.

 

[FortyTwo]

You mean... you mean for once, something will actually be visible in the Northeastern U.S. and not just in South America and Africa and other places that don't even make astronomical sense (but not the U.S.)!?

 

[Freesia]

Well I missed Hale bopp and Haleys comet so it was nice to see McNaught, and not sure if i will see this one or not.

Dont really get what you are saying.

 

[Tom L.]

http://earthsky.org/space/comet-panstarrs-possibly-visible-to-eye-in-march-2013

Comet PanStarrs isn't as bright as ISON is expected to be, and anyway, it's mostly been visible from the southern hemisphere- but it's starting to get where people living in more northerly latitudes will be able to spot it briefly after sunset.

 

[ledboots]

You mean... you mean for once, something will actually be visible in the Northeastern U.S. and not just in South America and Africa and other places that don't even make astronomical sense (but not the U.S.)!?

Yes, maybe tonight if you have an unimpeded western view.
http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/08/rare-naked-eye-comet-now-visible/

 

[Tom L.]

DRAT- I forgot to look for PanStarrs, even though we've had a few clear sunsets over the past week. Has anyone seen it?

 

[ledboots]

It has been too cloudy when I've checked. :-(

 

[Tom L.]

I was afraid this might happen....

Looks like ISON got vaporized when it scooted around the sun a few days ago, but there might be a little bit left of it.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/comet-ison-live/story?id=21053068

 

[Calliegirl]

RIP ISON ( 4.5 billion B.C. - A.D. 2013)

Comet ISON (4.5 billion B.C. – A.D. 2013) survived for more than 4.5 billion years in the frigid depths of the solar system, but it fizzled during its brief moment in the Sun on November 28. Through a combination of ISON’s delicate makeup, the Sun’s intense heat, and — most importantly — our star’s powerful tidal forces, the comet’s nucleus failed to survive its brush within 730,000 miles (1.16 million kilometers) of the Sun’s surface...

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2013/12/comet-ison-dies-as-it-rounds-the-sun