By Chase Dooley - Website Manager
The “Comet of the Century” no longer!—All hope of the Comet ISON surviving its close pass-by the sun on Thanksgiving Day has faded sadly.
Comet ISON, dubbed the “Comet of the Century,” did not completely survive its perihelion(closest approach to the sun) on Nov. 28. The comet's nucleus had appeared to have been vaporized by the sun's immense tidal forces and extreme radiation. It left behind a fading cloud of debris and did have a fragment of its coma which experienced a brief period of brightening before fading.
The report of the sad demise of the sungrazing comet comes from the joint NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory(SoHO) who were keeping close tabs on it as it ventured closer to the sun. The comet had reached the distance of 0.0124 AU(astronomical unit(1,150,000 miles)) from the center of the sun when it reached its perihelion. Its remnants will pass 0.43 AU(40,000,000 miles) from the Earth on Dec.26.
The comet, first named C/2012 S1, was discovered by Vitaly Nevsky and Artyom Novichonok on September 21, 2012, at the International Scientific Optical Network(ISON) near Kislovodsk, Russia, using the 0.4-meter (16 inch) reflecting telescope. C/2012 S1 later obtained its common name(Comet ISON) from where it was discovered. The comet's nucleus was estimated to be three miles across in January 2013, but later re-estimated to be only one mile across. The remnants of the comet are on an ejection trajectory out of the Solar System.
A comet is comprised of ice and dust in a small, celestial body. As it gets closer to the sun it heats up and releases gases forming a coma and even a tail. Comets are found different than asteroids by a thin, unbound atmosphere around their nucleus; which asteroids lack. So far, 4,894 comets are known since July 2013, which is only a very small fraction of the complete comet number that could be close to one trillion. In the year, there is only one comet visible to the naked eye, on average. However, most go unnoticed. Ones that form bright shows are called “Great Comets.”
Although the CIOC(Comet ISON Observing Campaign) declared on Dec. 2 Comet ISON to be gone; disintegrated into its icy debris, NASA will still investigate the possibility of there being an inactive fragment of ISON left. With Comet ISON a bust, all eyes are now on C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) that will soon have its perihelion Dec. 22.
Comet ISON, dubbed the “Comet of the Century,” did not completely survive its perihelion(closest approach to the sun) on Nov. 28. The comet's nucleus had appeared to have been vaporized by the sun's immense tidal forces and extreme radiation. It left behind a fading cloud of debris and did have a fragment of its coma which experienced a brief period of brightening before fading.
The report of the sad demise of the sungrazing comet comes from the joint NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory(SoHO) who were keeping close tabs on it as it ventured closer to the sun. The comet had reached the distance of 0.0124 AU(astronomical unit(1,150,000 miles)) from the center of the sun when it reached its perihelion. Its remnants will pass 0.43 AU(40,000,000 miles) from the Earth on Dec.26.
The comet, first named C/2012 S1, was discovered by Vitaly Nevsky and Artyom Novichonok on September 21, 2012, at the International Scientific Optical Network(ISON) near Kislovodsk, Russia, using the 0.4-meter (16 inch) reflecting telescope. C/2012 S1 later obtained its common name(Comet ISON) from where it was discovered. The comet's nucleus was estimated to be three miles across in January 2013, but later re-estimated to be only one mile across. The remnants of the comet are on an ejection trajectory out of the Solar System.
A comet is comprised of ice and dust in a small, celestial body. As it gets closer to the sun it heats up and releases gases forming a coma and even a tail. Comets are found different than asteroids by a thin, unbound atmosphere around their nucleus; which asteroids lack. So far, 4,894 comets are known since July 2013, which is only a very small fraction of the complete comet number that could be close to one trillion. In the year, there is only one comet visible to the naked eye, on average. However, most go unnoticed. Ones that form bright shows are called “Great Comets.”
Although the CIOC(Comet ISON Observing Campaign) declared on Dec. 2 Comet ISON to be gone; disintegrated into its icy debris, NASA will still investigate the possibility of there being an inactive fragment of ISON left. With Comet ISON a bust, all eyes are now on C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) that will soon have its perihelion Dec. 22.