Many assumed it was dead, but NASA has published a new video showing comet ISON surviving its close encounter with our home star on November 28, 2013, getting launched by the Sun’s gravity into a new lap around the solar system. It’s cool too watch. See you soon, Silver Surfer!
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We humans can form curious attachments to non-living things, so when Comet Ison veered recklessly toward the sun, naturally we rooted for the plucky iceball. Unfortunately, scientists feared the worst after seeing it mostly vanish when it brushed past the sun’s corona. Cue the heroic music, though, as new footage released early today (after the break) shows that at least part of the 1.4 mile-wide comet has emerged from the brutal encounter. It’s looking a bit ragged after all that, so astronomers will have to wait a bit more to make a final call on its health. Hopefully it’ll still be classed as “comet” rather than “scorched hunk of rock.”
Source: BBC
Yesterday, comet Ison flew close to the Sun
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Comet ISON is inching ever closer to the Sun, and it’ll get incredibly close later on today. In the meantime, though, you can watch its most recent progress in this video from NASA.
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The H-1 camera on board NASA’s STEREO-A spacecraft has captured this sequence of the two comets now en route to the Sun: Encke and ISON.
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Mike Hankey has captured this extraordinary photo of the comet ISON, which is experiencing some surprising activity as it approaches the Sun. It’s so perfect it seems unreal. ISON was discovered only a year ago and it’s now observable in the night sky.
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While there will be plenty of fireworks later today, it’s nice to know that our very own solar system will be joining in the fun, too—with comet ISON hurting toward the sun at a staggering 48,000 mph.
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