Friday, November 22, 2013

Comet ISON - Six Days From Perihelion ~


I have been writing about Comet ISON news and sightings since last July. Six days away from perihelion on Thanksgiving Day, ISON is now hurtling towards its possibly fatal close encounter with the sun. If ISON does not disintegrate or plunge into the sun, we could be in for an amazing celestial spectacle in coming weeks.

Over the last few days, ISON has been visible to the naked eye and with binoculars in the early morning south-eastern skies, near Mercury and Spica, around 5:30 a.m. Over the next few days, the comet will be increasingly harder to spot, as ISON will be lower in the skies, washed out by twilight and a waxing moon. 

If ISON survives perihelion, here is where you will be able to see the comet for the first couple of weeks of December:


Image credit: Sky & Telescope



Following is a collection of ISON images taken around the world over the last few days. Enjoy!


Image credit: J.C. Casado

ISON over Tenerife, Canary Islands



Image credit: Parks Squyres

ISON imaged from Saddlebrooke, AZ



Image credit: Eric Cardoso

ISON over Portugal



Image credit: Kouji Yamamoto

ISON imaged in Oita, Japan



Image credit: Jon Talbot

ISON over Ocean Springs, MS



Image credit: G. Rhemann

ISON imaged from Namibia, Africa



 Image credit: Kouji Onishi

ISON as seen from Nagano, Japan



Image credit: Mike Broussard

ISON imaged from Maurice, LA



Image credit: Rogelio Andreo

ISON over the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco



Image credit: slate.com


See you on the flip side, ISON - Hopefully!