'Brighter than a full moon'

[Grandpa Greenman]

This is going to be something to see.

A comet discovered by two Russian astronomers will be visible from Earth next year. Get ready for a once-in-a lifetime light show, says David Whitehouse

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/brighter-than-a-full-moon-the-biggest-star-of-2013-could-be-ison--the-comet-of-the-century-8431443.html

Edited February 6, 2013 by Waspie_Dwarf
Added tags

[AsteroidX]

Hope it doesnt rain that night. Sounds cool.

[Grandpa Greenman]

Usually comets are visible for a while, so I think there will be lots of opportunities to see it.

[the-Unexpected-Soul]

this is great news

[sarah_444]

Wow, great article - very descriptive. Can't wait to get a look!

[Ashotep]

Sounds like next year will be the year for comets. Get out your camera's and hope we don't get hit.

[+and-then]

disaster (n.)

I wonder how long it'll be before the doomsayers begin?

[CuriousGreek]

I'll be looking forwars to seeing it

[pitchp]

Cool

[+and-then]

The photographic opportunities will be awesome as well. Looking forward to it!

[stevewinn]

it should be great viewing remember hale-bop comet in 1997? i remember just sitting on the front door step watching that comet for hours. it was almost unbelievable. i hope i witness something like it again.

What i always wonder is those comets, asteroids that sneak up on us, like that comet/meteor in 2008. which came out of nowhere, some observer spotted it, done some math, and it was on a collision course with earth, time to impact less than 24 hours. the chap then phoned the NASA branch, who re-done the math, and yes it was true the impact was less than 24 hours away, NASA then contacted the President at the White house, - the meteor was calculated to hit in the Nubian desert. and so it did.well blew up in the atmosphere. about 20 miles above the ground. it just goes to show how at the mercy of 'nature' we are.

[Pyridium]

I was impressed with how we calculate where it is, where it is going and where it came from. Many of our well known comets do orbit the sun with cycles ranging from 20 to 500 years. Haleys comet comes around every 75 years. The comets that do orbit our sun have repeatedly lost dust and mass with every trip around the sun. Comet Ison has never been near a sun before and has a lot of mass to shed off of itself.

As we keep snapping pictures of the sky, we are beginning to accumulate a lot of data that can be used in the future to more quickly identify possible earth crossing objects. Comet Ison was spotted in Sept 2012 and prompted a search for previous pictures of the same sky. What they found was that Ison was photographed in early 2012 and late 2011. They were able to accurately project the path and where this object came from. If indeed this was going to hit earth, we would have had about 1 year notice.

[Bonecrusher]

It should be more spectacular than a meteor shower!

[synchronomy]

I was impressed with how we calculate where it is, where it is going and where it came from. Many of our well known comets do orbit the sun with cycles ranging from 20 to 500 years. Haleys comet comes around every 75 years. The comets that do orbit our sun have repeatedly lost dust and mass with every trip around the sun. Comet Ison has never been near a sun before and has a lot of mass to shed off of itself.

As we keep snapping pictures of the sky, we are beginning to accumulate a lot of data that can be used in the future to more quickly identify possible earth crossing objects. Comet Ison was spotted in Sept 2012 and prompted a search for previous pictures of the same sky. What they found was that Ison was photographed in early 2012 and late 2011. They were able to accurately project the path and where this object came from. If indeed this was going to hit earth, we would have had about 1 year notice.

Comet NEAT has an orbital period of ~37,000 years!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Neat

[Imaginarynumber1]

This is going to be one hell of a site. It could be visible for months.

[Abramelin]

It's gonna be a crowded space:

Missed that one, lol.

And how about this one:

“2014 AZ5 is the object which currently has the highest chance of impacting Earth in March of 2013,” said Quami Lochmo of the European Space Agency’s Solar System Missions Division in the Dutch city of Noordwijk.

“We are currently also in the process of making governments around the world aware of the situation,” Lochmo said. “

The near-Earth asteroid 2014 Az5 has an impact probability of 1 in 125 for March 17, 2013, said Donald Lochmo.

This impact probability isn’t set in stone, however. It can be changed slightly.

http://weeklyworldne...ding-for-earth/

I should add something here:

First: this is the only source with this news;

Second: who is it? Quami Lochmo or Donald Lochmo?

.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Abramelin

[Waspie_Dwarf]

This is going to be something to see.

I hate to be the bringer of bad news but there are two things that need to be considered:

1. Comets are notoriously difficult to predict.
   
2. Newspaper headlines are notoriously sensationalist.

The "brighter than a full moon" prediction is a best case scenario. It is highly likely that, like so many comets before, this will be a damp squib. How bright it is depends on how much dust and gas evaporate from the cometary nucleus as the comets nears the sun, and we just won't know that until nearer the time.

stevewinn mentioned Hale-Bopp. That is a good example of the unpredictability of comets. Hale-Bopp brightened whilst still a long way from the sun. However it's brightening slowed considerably, leading many to think that it may not be as spectacular as first thought. Then it got to close to the sun to be observed. When it returned it had brightened considerably and was spectacular.

But there was another comet that was seen to be very bright whilst still at a great distance from the sun, Comet Kohoutek in 1973. Like Hale-Bopp this was expected to be a great comet, even being described as "the Comet of the Century". It was no such thing. Kohoutek disintegrated as it came close to the sun and was only just visible to the naked eye.

Whether Ison is a Kohoutek or a Hale-Bopp, only time will tell.

[Bonecrusher]

Tbh I'm quite upset by this news.

Here's me thinking I could catch it with the naked eye.

I suppose getting that telescope is more of a priority as time goes on.

However if you do see a comet with the naked eye you are getting some kind of message.

Go to your underground bunker in five seconds flat.

Tbh I'll just have to made do with the ISS and the Moon.

But they really do pale in comparison with a comet.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Medium Brown

[Waspie_Dwarf]

However if you do see a comet with the naked eye you are getting some kind of message.

Go to your underground bunker in five seconds flat.

Really! That's odd because I've seen at least half a dozen and I've never needed a bunker yet.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Waspie_Dwarf
typo.

[Bonecrusher]

Really! That's odd because I've seen at least half a dozen and I've never needed a bunker yet.

Well having read it more carefully I think we've got a 50/50 chance.

It's going to be prominent for a fair few months and you might as well live in a bunker if you don't catch it.

I think it being brighter than the moon is a pretty fair assessment of a comet in full flight.

It's not surprising people are getting hyped up after what Shoemaker-Levy did to Jupiter.

Because I'm an optimistic sod I'm leaning more to it mimicking Hale Bopp's actions.

There will be a few dissipointed people here if it dosn't live up to expectations.

My idea of amateur astronomer hell would be it if it suddenly became overcast.

No comet's light is bright enough to penetrate a grey cloud.

It dosn't care how impressive it is in it's overall appearance.

Edited December 29, 2012 by Medium Brown

[highdesert50]

I wonder if this event will spawn a host of doomsday scenarios ... as in, oh my, the Mayan's were a year off in their calculations.

[Coffey]

This is awesome.

[HuntrSThompsun]

oh great, Russians won't give us their babies.. now they create another cult to follow.. It's the sequel to heavens gates.

[pallidin]

The article says:

"Comet ISON is expected to pass as close as 700,000 miles, or 1.1 million kilometers, from the sun on Nov. 28."

Yet, some commenters on other sites have mistaken that figure for it's proximity to the earth at that time, which is not true.

Edited December 29, 2012 by pallidin

[Overdueleaf]

I am waiting for the crazies and doomsday preachers to come out of the woodwork on this one(remember Heavans Gate).... perhaps even planet Nibiru followers