Comet ISON is doing quite well, actually..
Some thought by now there’d be lots of waters doused on the fires of hope that our early winter night sky would be alive with the signs of a comet from the beginning of the universe.. but the latest images of our soon-to-be-nighttime-friend show a comet doing quite fine.
This is an image from October 8 2013 taken by the Schulman 0.8 Telescope at the University of Arizona:
Ison looks healthy to me..
The next test for the survival of this comet: The sun. It’s going to have a close encounter on November 28, 2013.. Chances are it will live.. chances are it will die. No one is quite sure at this time what happens on November 29. The only sure bet that we have been told (over and over again) is that Earth has no chance of danger from Ison..
Although the most recent month has been alive with asteroids and meteors, and lights in the sky across the world.
But Ison? Don’t worry, the collective ‘they’ says..
And I am not.
But I’d sure enjoy seeing a nice evening light show.. I certainly hope Ison lives to tell about its encounter with the solar flare maker.. And just picture new fallen snow on the landscape, Christmas lights twinkling .. and a comet’s bright tail visible to the naked eye in the night sky. Now THAT would be beautiful over the little town of Bethlehem, or whatever town you inhabit.
So here’s hoping Ison makes it!
It’s a big universe. But we are rooting for you.