~NOV 13 comet Ison/Enke '15 times brighter in our sky than a full moon'?

Originally posted by ngchunter
Yes it existed, I saw it myself. It simply fell apart as it got closer to the sun. It happens.

Hmmm, not sure what you saw, or think you saw, but one thing's for certain it wasn't Elenin.
It allegedly fell apart after it rounded the sun, NOT as it got closer. It started to fall apart as it was heading in Earth's direction.

reply to post by OratoryHeist


What are you talking about. Didn't exist. It did and it went into the Sun and came out the other side and flew off again. Oh you mean the threat that it posed didn't exist. Mis information is a dangerous thing. Keep your mouth shut unless you have the facts at hand.

Originally posted by FreshAirGirl
reply to post by OratoryHeist

 

What are you talking about. Didn't exist. It did and it went into the Sun and came out the other side and flew off again.

You saw it do that, did you?

Oh you mean the threat that it posed didn't exist. Mis information is a dangerous thing. Keep your mouth shut unless you have the facts at hand.

I have the facts, thanks. But ditto on keeping your mouth shut, a little practicing what you preach goes along way.

Originally posted by minnow
www.dailymail.co.uk...
Comet 'shining 15 times brighter than moon' will fly by our planet in 2013

It is currently moving inwards from beyond Jupiter, and as it approaches the Earth, the 'dirty snowball' could produce a dazzling display, burning brighter than the moon and potentially being visible in broad daylight.

really....that bright....

or are they exaggerating?

and what about Encke i can't find much on that one...

If this is even remotely accurate it will be a site to see....

How is this not more well known?

Very Interesting


Tom

Originally posted by OratoryHeist

Originally posted by ngchunter
Yes it existed, I saw it myself. It simply fell apart as it got closer to the sun. It happens.

Hmmm, not sure what you saw, or think you saw, but one thing's for certain it wasn't Elenin.

I saw comet Elenin.
www.flickr.com...
www.flickr.com...
Yes, it existed. Myself and many other amateur astronomers all captured it in images. I suppose you think we're all liars.

It allegedly fell apart after it rounded the sun, NOT as it got closer.

Wrong. It started disintegrating during the last week of August:
www.universetoday.com...
It reached perihelion on September 10th:
ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=C/2010 X1

Originally posted by OratoryHeist
I have the facts, thanks.

Then please explain how myself and countless other amateur astronomers imaged a comet that you claim never existed.

Originally posted by wutz4tom
If this is even remotely accurate it will be a site to see....

It's not. The comet's total magnitude is projected to be about the same brightness as the moon, not "15 times brighter." I have no idea where daily fail, err, sorry, "daily mail" got that quote, but it goes against everything I've seen. These are still early projections and the comet may either exceed or fail to live up to expectations, but I see no data indicating that it will be 15 times brighter than the moon. Total magnitude is also spread over the entire nucleus and tail, so the actual "surface brightness" may be considerably less than the moon. I'm speaking in astronomy lingo here, but the bottom line is that because the light from the comet is distributed over what may be a much wider area of the sky than the half degree diameter of the moon, it may not appear to the naked eye to be as "bright" as the moon (but if you could count the total number of photons reaching your eye from the comet it would be roughly equivalent to the number of photons reaching your eye from the full moon). At that time it will also be next to the sun in the sky, making it more difficult to observe.

A lot is being said in the mainstream media about this comet, unfortunately it's sensational stories like this that will result in a disappointed public. It reminds me about the over-hyped expectations during the 2003 mars apparition. At one point an email was going around stating that mars would be as large as the moon in the sky (which stemmed from a true statement that at a modest magnification in a telescope it would appear as large as the moon does to the naked eye). That email kept going around for a number of years thereafter, and every August I had to tell disappointed visitors to the observatory that I worked at that mars was not going to be visible that night, let alone as big as the moon. Attempts to divert their interest to the planets that were visible that night frequently failed as they would simply turn around and leave. I fear that over-hyped expectations of this comet will lead to lots of "that's it?" remarks.

reply to post by ngchunter


Perhaps also worth pointing out that at max brightness, the comet will be very close to the Sun and therefore in 'daylight' sky - so won't appear as bright as the full moon at midnight, for example.

Nonetheless, with a big tail, it should be an impressive object at sunset I for one can't wait. Best 'traditional' comet I've been able to photograph (didn't have the equipment for Hale Bopp) was McNaught in an 2007. ISON should be much brighter (and I have an even better camera now )

reply to post by OratoryHeist


Comet Elenin was one of the most observed comets in history, it got thousands views, including those by amateur astronomers. It was discovered by an amateur astronomer to begin with. Mind really boggles where you get your "facts" from.

P.S. Just played around with the Google calculator to find what magnitude a comet 15x brighter than the full moon would have to be. Given the mean full moon mag of -12.74, the answer is -15.68

reply to post by ngchunter


Yes I would tend to agree..Either way Thanks for the heads up. I will now do my own research.

Originally posted by luciddream
15x brighter but how much bigger?

Chances are it would be a dot that whizzes by quick.

Comets do not whiz by quickly. When they are visible, they usually stay in the sky for several weeks.

Comet Hale Bopp, for example, was visible in 1997 for a long time, and was at least magnitude 0 for eight weeks (magnitude 0 is bright enough to be seen very easily with the naked eye).

Originally posted by Klassified

Two girls from the Valley wake up to find that a passing comet has eradicated their world and left behind a mysterious red-dust and a pack of cannibal mutants. With the help of a friendly truck driver, the girls save the earth from a villainous "think tank," karate chop their way through flesh-eating zombies, and, of course, find time to go to the mall.

Released in 1984. Hmmmm.

edit on 10/30/2012 by Klassified because: (no reason given)

oh...man, gotta love the '80's

Originally posted by Pervius
As the comet passes MABUS dies...

Mexico
Australia
Britain
United
States

I'm going for...

Muppets
Always
Believe
Utter
Shyte