Astronomy: Comet ISON

Comet ISON

Comet ISON 15 November 2013

Comet ISON was bathed with solar radiation in December, which caused the ice on the comet to turn into gas. Because of the close proximity to the sun, the nucleus of the comet was expected to spew a lot of gas and releas rocks and dust with it. The sunlight would then reflect against these particles giving the particles a yellowish color. The comet is about 3 miles in diameter. The material that was released because of the radiation forms a spherical halo, known as a coma. This would create a really long tale. There are many different predictions as to how bright the comet will be. It was predicted that on December 1, comet ISON would be as bright as Mars and by late December it would be visible for observers as long as the sky is dark.

Comet ISON 8 October 2013

According to a CNN article, as of right now, the fate of comet ISON is unknown. Most scientists believe that 90% of ISON was destroyed because of the close proximity to the Sun. The Hubble Telescope will determine what remains of ISON. Even though it wasn’t the comet that scientists were expecting, it did provide lots of information. As of right now, it is called a comet remnant.