Ok, ISON no more but a lot to follow in 2014

I am now convinced ISON survived but more than that I think the comet is in far better shape than those that say maybe "part" of it survived are saying.

It just seems too bright in the latest images I have seen to be anything other than the nucleus holding on to a high % of its mass prior to perihelion.

Until someone can explain to me scientifically why its not possible my belief at this time is that I think it was stripped of it's coma completely so naturally looked like it disappeared and now that it is far enough from the sun the Coma is growing again.

This blog from CIOC (link below) suggests they admit that ISON almost certainly survived but they still say "A small part of it". I am not educated in these things but even so no-one has been able to explain to me how it is now so bright again if it's just dust or a small nucleus remaining...

In my opinion the show is still on!!!

CIOC

Comet ISON sweeps near the sun, shows signs of life

Seems like comet ISON may have survived--somewhat. Still hoping for a light show!

reply to post by CosmicDude


I have one coment how can a comet be bigger than the sun and not be causing complete mayhem. Im assuming you made a mistake in that posting. Just saying

If the comet lost substantial mass on its pass around the sun, and that's a big if, how does that affect its trajectory? Originally it was supposed to come within something like 40 million miles of Earth. Would it get closer or farther away?

It would seem that patience is required and we must wait and see what ISON is going to do, or is doing.

www.spaceweather.com...

May you live in interesting times.

What do you mean ISON no more? Everything I've read seems to indicate that it likely survived (though it lost a lot of mass). We may get a show yet.

Edit: oh I see its apparently fading again. Still its been tricky, I'm holding out hope for seeing SOMETHING.

reply to post by CosmicDude


ison has faded from view...

just maybe, it just didn't have any more ice & gas to be blown away by the solar wind but perhaps its still there on its way to the outer reaches of the solar system...

COMET ISON DIES ... AGAIN: Comet ISON is fading fast as it recedes from the sun. Whatever piece of the comet survived the Thanksgiving flyby of the sun is now dissipating in a cloud of dust. Click to view a 3-day movie centered on perihelion (closest approach to the sun):

This development makes it unlikely that Comet ISON will put on a good show after it exits the glare of the sun in early December. Experienced astrophotographers might be able to capture the comet's fading "ghost" in the pre-dawn sky, but a naked-eye spectacle can be ruled out.

On Nov. 29th, pilot Brian Whittaker tried to catch a first glimpse of Comet ISON from Earth, post-perihelion, from a plane flying 36,000 feet over the Arctic Circle in northern Canada. No luck:

"Ideal viewing conditions from the Arctic revealed no Comet ISON," reports Whittaker. "This negative report is to quench the thirst of other fellow dreamers under cloudy skies or further south. Later I could see that SOHO showed the comet dimming further."

Despite Whittaker's negative result, it is too soon to rule out observations from Earth as the twice-dead comet moves away from the glare of the sun. Meanwhile, NASA's fleet of solar observatory will be tracking the remains. Stay tuned for more images.

link

Adaluncatif
If the comet lost substantial mass on its pass around the sun, and that's a big if, how does that affect its trajectory? Originally it was supposed to come within something like 40 million miles of Earth. Would it get closer or farther away?

Depends on the direction the mass was lost. There is a rule of conservation of momentum, where the sum of all masses x forces before = sum of all masses x forces after. Whatever direction each fragment of comet that was blown off went, the nucleus of the comet would go a little bit more in the opposite direction.

The loss of mass would mean that the force of the solar wind would have more effect. Force of gravity is constant regardless of mass, so the trajectory would remain as before.

reply to post by stormcell

So the nucleus should stay on track?

What about 'the little bits' that have come off ISON?