Stargrazer Ison: The comet of the century

[Vartok]

From the article linked below (starting December 3rd)

"If we're lucky, then in just a few days time we could witness one of the most spectacular sights in the night sky for a generation or more.  Astronomers hope that on 3 December a comet will appear on the eastern horizon - Comet Ison.

For the whole month of December, millions of people across the northern hemisphere should be able to see its tail, which is several millions of kilometres long, stretching across the dawn sky.  Ison has come from the Oort cloud, a belt of comets on the very edge of the Solar System, where it has been for the last 4.6 billion years.

What makes Ison so special is that it is a "sungrazer". Many comets pass through the Solar System every decade, but very few go through the corona of the Sun. Ison will do just that.

Comet Ison - Discovered on 21 September 2012 by Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok
A so-called "sungrazer", it approaches our star at a distance of just 1.2 million km from the surface
Ison brushes past the Sun on 28 November; the heat at "perihelion" is expected to exceed 2,000C
The encounter could cause Ison to break up completely, but if it survives, the comet could put on a bright display in the sky during December

Comet of the Century: A Horizon Special - Its passage through the corona, which happens on 28 November, will be watched with great interest by astronomers across the world.  It's not known exactly what effect the great heat and gravitational force of our Sun will have on the comet. "

V


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25052236

[MARKO]

I can't wait!

[Bromptonboy]

Let's hope it doesn't fall apart before it puts on a show for us!  :)