Did Comet ISON just ruin Christmas? Comet ISON never lived up to its name as the Comet of the Century, and now Astronomers are debating whether it can still be classified as a comet at all. Comet ISON – or whats left of it – will be closest to the Earth on 26 December Comet ISON brushed within less than a million miles of the sun on Thursday. When it did not quickly emerge on the other side of the sun, many astronomers gave it up as lost – another comet following in the doomed footsteps of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and was destroyed. But then astronomers caught a glimpse of a surprisingly small space rock where ISON should have been, prompting rumors that the zombie comet might not have died after all, and was continuing its path around the sun. After several days of continued observations, NASA scientists are still uncertain about ISONs fate. Theres no doubt that the comet shrank in size considerably as it rounded the sun, says NASA, and theres no doubt that something made it out on the other side to shoot back into space. The question remains as to whether the bright spot seen moving away from the sun was simply debris, or whether a small nucleus of the original ball of ice was still there. Regardless, it is likely that it is now only dust. Amateur astronomers, hoping that Comet ISON would live up to its early reputation as the Comet of the Century, are disappointed. Whatever has emerged, it wont be visible to the naked eye throughout December, as early reports suggested.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 00:28:06 +0000
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