Comet ISON : Realtime Image and Info 2013

Any idea about this image?

cheesy

Any idea about this image?

My opinion is the picture on the right is a crop formation from Alton Priors UK 2009. The one on the left says it's ISON.


Do you have a source for the pictures cheesy?

I've not had any luck viewing ISON with my 10x50 binoculars from the UK as yet. The Moon is being a pain at the moment. Keeping my fingers crossed for December.

Marc

I bet its going so fast , space is rippling...

Like a jet breaking the sound barrier.

This thing is breaking Time Barriers...

Star Trek IV - Time Travel scene HD
www.youtube.com/watch?v=65nSJrF-zgw
www.youtube.com...


Supersonic Flight, Sonic Booms
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWGLAAYdbbc
www.youtube.com...


The comet is making a wake vortex as well...

Eek, this is not looking good for comet ISON!

The latest image of ISON in Stereo is not a good news compared with past days images. I hope only a resolution problem. 23 and 24 november

Posted at groups.yahoo.com...

Comet ISON has been closely monitored at the IRAM millimeter telescope in Spain by Israel Hermelo (IRAM Granada) and myself (Caltech/NRAO) for the last 6 days. We observe consistent, rapid fading of the molecular emission lines between Nov. 21 and Nov. 25 by at least a factor of 20 (likely more). This may indicate that the nucleus is now at best marginally active or that... it no longer exists.

This is in agreement with yesterday observation of Terry Lovejoy. He measured the magnitude 4 so comet has little faded then instead expected brightening to near 3 mag in case of health state. Afrho measure few days ago indicate huge increase of dust production. Total disintegration make sense.

The comet has been constantly peaking tailward (or as if it was a bit late on its orbit) compared to the predicted position. [...] this can also be the not so good sign that comet is loosing integrity and a large part is trailing behind the predicted position due to outgassing reaction.

reply to post by marc72


Hey Marc! Just replying to a reply you sent me a few pages back. I haven't had a chance to see ISON yet a mixture of funny working hours, clouded skies and laziness have hampered my chances of getting up early and seeing it

Fingers cross it makes it's round trip

reply to post by wildespace


Based on the info you posted, what do you think Wildespace?

It does appear that poor ISON has been hammered by the Sun recently and my understanding is that it is/was traveling to an area that has a lot of sunspot activity so it could be in for an even rougher ride as it tries to make it's way around...

Also - do you have an opinion of the size of it's nucleus? I saw a few posts showing both Enke & ISON coming into view of HI1-A where ISON looked much larger than Enke even though it was farther away from the camera than Enke.

I asked about it in another thread but have not gotten a response from anyone better versed in Comet watching than I nor have I seen any news reports addressing it. My guess is that's because most people (astronomers included) simply don't know yet. No harm there - there's an awful lot we don't know, but it would be nice if those better qualified could just come out & say that as many people are questioning.

I just got a new online contact. He informed me via e-mail that ISON will show itself as a spaceship some time after perihelion.

reply to post by Menedes567


no way Dude, are you serious

Menedes567
I just got a new online contact. He informed me via e-mail that ISON will show itself as a spaceship some time after perihelion.

care to share who or what this contact is or provide a link as to where you go the infomation ? oh ive got a new online contact that has told me santa clause is infact real but doesn't live in the north pole infact he is in the south pole which is why prince harry is going to Antarctica treck so he can personally delivery a list of presents for baby George


or take a screen shot of your email and blank out any private info

reply to post by Riffrafter


The mantra with comets is always "wait and see". There are so many variables and possibilities, that it's impossible to say with any certainty whether the comet is alive and well, or it's disintegrated.
www.slate.com...

ISON's size has been estimated at roughly 3 miles (5 km) across, a typical size for a comet. en.wikipedia.org...
The largest comet ever discovered (as far as I'm aware) was around 60 km across, and that was the Great Comet Hale-Bopp. ISON's sub-par performance kinda suggest that it is not gigantic like some doomsters want you to believe.

Here a pretty good vid

I believe there is a NASA teleconference beginning in 3 minutes to discuss ISON's trip around the sun (well, if it holds together).
Here is the link to listen NASA News

reply to post by Olivine


Carey Lisse, senior research scientist, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. gives his opinion that ISON has a 30 % chance of surviving it's slingshot around the sun.
Another speaker, (I think it was) Michael Garcia, program scientist, Astrophysics Division, NASA, is a bit more optimistic at 40 % chance of surviving. He also reminds us that it could still disintegrate days after perihelion, but that would still possibly give a good show.

Q and A still ongoing at link given in post above...


ETA: Karl Battams, astrophysicist, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington admits they don't know at the moment, if it is still in one piece.


ETA#2:
The scientists in the teleconference "think" ISON will resemble Comet Lovejoy, after perihelion.

A few other nuggets: it's current velocity is 112km/s, in less than 2 days it will be zipping 350km/s. It rotates once every 10 hours, and it's green color is due to being mostly C2 (diatomic carbon).

ISON looks to be hanging together in the latest STEREO Behind image.
(ISON is at the "8 o'clock" position, the brighter object above it is Jupiter)

source

We should be able to see ISON in the Lasco C3 images around 2:00 UTC (7 hours from now), entering from the bottom right of the screen.

reply to post by Olivine


thanks for the resume Olivine, didn't had the time to watch (the conference).


ppl these days keep the star's for them selfs

reply to post by voyger2

It was my pleasure, Voyger2.

The most recent STEREO Behind Cor2 image is interesting.
It looks like a CME is just leaving the sun, and could possibly be heading in Comet ISON's direction (but I'm no solar expert--maybe someone with more experience could weigh in with an interpretation).

Image source

reply to post by Olivine

Unlikely that it is ISON directed.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Olivine
ISON looks to be hanging together in the latest STEREO Behind image.

To be frank, STEREO cameras have such low resolution, they probably wouldn't notice the disintegration. If ISON is in fragments, those fragments are still travelling very close to each other and would look like a single blob of light on these cameras.

~~~

Here's another bit of information, in case people are wondering whether ISON is leaving the Solar System forever or gonna stick around:

(The quick answer, if you don't want to read the sciency stuff below - ISON is leaving us forever)

JPL's HORIZONS web service can calculate ISON's orbital elements, including its eccentricity, with respect to the Solar System barycenter (the common centre of mass of the Solar System, the point in space ISON is actually orbiting) for many years ahead.

It takes some time to get used to using HORIZON, but it's worth it if you want to see the numbers for yourself. Here are the settings I used:

Ephemeris Type [change] : ELEMENTS
Target Body [change] : Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)
Center [change] : Solar System Barycenter (SSB) [500@0]
Time Span [change] : Start=2013-11-27, Stop=2053-11-27, Step=1 Y
Table Settings [change] : defaults
Display/Output [change] : default (formatted HTML)

(I put the end year as 2053 arbitrarily, but you can go as far as the year 2500)

The result - after perihelion, ISON's orbit becomes hyperbolic (eccentricity > 1), with eccentricity settling at around 1.0002316.

Here's a cool video talking about this:

Here comes Johnny!



Latest from SOHO / LASKO site, ISON is incoming.

reply to post by wildespace


Thanks for your reply wildespace.

I had been reading on the CIOC blog about the decrease in spectral emissions, and how even after yesterday's subsequent brightening, we still don't know how much, if any of the nucleus still remains. Although, we don't have to wait long to find out.

The SOHO website seems to be experiencing technical difficulties off-and-on this morning--probably more server traffic than they normally receive.

The most recent LASCO C-3 image I find on the SOHO site is from 09:30 utc (3-1/2 hours ago).

Luckily, the LASCO site proper has more recent images. Comet ISON (or its remnant parts) are still visible.

Phage
reply to post by Olivine

 

Unlikely that it is ISON directed.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Thanks Phage.