Super-comet or super-dud? We'll see

Super-comet or super-dud? We'll see

cosmiclog.nbcnews.com

That orbit is due to bring Comet ISON incredibly close to the sun — within just 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) in late November of next year. As a result, current projections suggest it could get very bright. How bright? Various estimates have set the brightest magnitude at -10 to -16. That suggests the comet could become brighter than the full moon — which led Astronomy Magazine's Michael E. Bakich to say it "probably will become the brightest comet anyone alive has ever seen."

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Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
New Comet: C/2012 S1 (ISON)

This is going to be something to tell your grandkids about - brighter than the full moon (maybe)!!!!

Also I suspect it is going to be something the apocalyptic crowd are going to seize upon in short order - that shoudl be fun!!

already posted in space exploration as well, but AFAIK this is also legitimately alternative news.

cosmiclog.nbcnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Aloysius the Gaul


It's not ISON.

It's NIBIRU.

They're lying.



Should be very cool to see, if all goes to plan.

remains to be seen. The last "super comet" turned out to be a dud as it melted away on it's approach to the sun. But if it lives up to it's PR it will upstage Shoemaker Levy 9 that hit Jupiter a few years ago.

the brightest comet anyone alive has ever seen

Bit of an under statement. Does that include ETs or something...

Originally posted by happykat39
remains to be seen. The last "super comet" turned out to be a dud as it melted away on it's approach to the sun. But if it lives up to it's PR it will upstage Shoemaker Levy 9 that hit Jupiter a few years ago.

I'm thinking more along the lines of Hale-Bopp.

While Shoemaker-Levy 9 was certainly interesting from a scientific perspective, it was not visible to the average person on Earth.

Hale-Bopp, on the other hand, was very, very visible in the sky for several weeks in 1997, even visible at dusk before sunset. It was hard NOT to notice; all you had to do was glance up at the sky in its general direction, and there it was. Hale-Bopp would be the comet that I would think this new one will be compared to, especially in the PR department.