Latest on Comet ISON

Iancar29

Rikand wrote: »

I take it the comet is rounding the sun at the moment, based on the lack of talk about it. When does it come back into our view ?

No , goes around tomorrow , and will be the 2nd or 3rd of December that non space instruments will pick it up again if it survives .

M.T. Cranium

There has been some speculation on the Sky+Telescope on-line blog that ISON may have blown a gasket on Monday or Tuesday (massive dust ejection followed by light max behind schedule, i.e. coming from tail debris mostly). This would imply higher chance of disruption on 28th-29th and essentially a no show. Let's hope this is not the case.

Oh, and if you're running into anything very far-out on the intertubes about ISON being either Nibiru, a forerunner of Nibiru, turning Mars into a comet -- take this as entertainment rather than actual information.

Anyway, today's the day (meaning Friday 28th) of ultimate testing for ISON as it hurtles past the Sun's south polar regions. Wonder if they have penguins there? (just a joke, don't want this making the news).

M.T. Cranium

Update -- better news to report now, some of the commentary has become more optimistic in this same source:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/Comet-ISON-Updates-193909261.html?jh

Check out the image of the comet streaking in towards the south pole of the Sun taken very recently ... and I would imagine this link will have the most up-to-date information about what happens in the close encounter which is timed for about 14-15h today. Remember, if the comet survives, the spectacle will begin very rapidly as it hurtles away from the Sun at a much higher altitude in the sky than its low approach. There could be something to see in the morning skies as early as Sat 30th. And there's some chance of clear skies with that.

markfla

this is a good site for tracking the comet
http://www.cometison2013.co.uk/perihelion-and-distance/

yellowlabrador

This is starting at 5 pm.

Rikand

RTE news had a nice piece on it at lunchtime today

Popoutman

Appears to have broken up, based on the google+ hangout that Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer i think) is on at the moment.

Died on the way in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q03I1B_yrPg&feature=youtu.be

Iancar29

RIP ISON...


or should i say... ISOFF

Pa ElGrande

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/11/28/comet-ison-appears-to-be-toast/

Iancar29

HOLD UP!!!!

:eek: :eek: :eek:


#Thewalkingdead

fits

uhm is there supposed to be something visible there?

Iancar29

http://soho.esac.esa.int/data/realtime/c2/1024/latest.html

Simon Gruber Says

Phil Plait ‏@BadAstronomer 36m
So, I called the total death a bit prematurely. Something has made it around, but we’ll have to see how much stuff and in what condition.

Some part made it around it would seem

Technoprisoner

i know they have been saying it has broken up but do i see something coming out the far side of that photo?

geetar

Technoprisoner wrote: »

i know they have been saying it has broken up but do i see something coming out the far side of that photo?

Yup. looks like something. hopefully its significant.

Popoutman

Larger dusty clumps, but unlikely to be visible as a comet in a few hours. For the comet to be visible to us in a day or two, there would have to be a definite nucleus visible, and that nucleus ot be throwing off a lot more dust and gas than is being seen. That little dusty line will most likely spread out and dissipate before the next day is over, leaving nothing to throw out fresh dust and gas for the show that we would have wanted.

Had the comet broken up a day after perihelion instead of the same way that it blazed in, then we would have had a decently bright comet tail visible to us in the Northern part of the world, similar to how McNaught's was visible from the southern hemisphere. Instead, any residual dust cloud from the breakup is directed mostly south of the sun and away from us, leaving a poor viewing geometry for that dust by anyone on Earth.

dacogawa

Ha, I didn't know we had a ISON/ISOFF thread in the weather, was over in the astronomy section...

Anyway there defiantly is something left but does it have a nucleus ? really thought it didn't until I saw the last 2 Lasco C3 images, it can't, can it ?!?

UPDATE: I'm really starting to think ISON is alive after the 00:07 C3! compare it to the 15:22 yesterday. I'll hold my optimism in till the morning though, night all

C2


C3 00:07

C3 15:22

Iancar29

#Believe

M.T. Cranium

Yep, there's some chance now, at the moment whatever survived is a little brighter than first magnitude star Antares shown in all of the images above lower left. At the very least, there could be a findable object for assisted viewing (binoculars in other words). Earliest I would bother to look would be sunrise Sunday 1st.

dacogawa

Seems to be a bit of talk going around about foreshortening with the tail ? & in the latest C3 it seems the sun has woken up too, maybe it just heard ISON did a nick-nack on its door

Popoutman

Whatever is left after the perihelion passage is now fading rather rapidly, and is now at +5 magnitude or so, and very diffuse.
It's probable that some astrophotographers with decent camera lenses and a bit of experience with post-processing (and to be lucky enough to get a dust-free cloud-free sunrise or sunset) might be able to get something out of the twilight sky.

For us mere mortals, I'd expect to see nothing coming up.

Actually, how is our weather forecast for possible viewing? Looks pretty poor to be honest

Red Nissan

Popoutman wrote: »

Actually, how is our weather forecast for possible viewing? Looks pretty poor to be honest

Because we have almost zero viewing possibilities for mere mortals, I've enjoyed the tracking and reports and long since resigned myself to that.

In whatever character language you like it's a "that's all Folks!"