Skywatching: Comet ISON Updates
Dave Huestis, GoLocalProv Astronomy Expert
Skywatching: Comet ISON Updates
November 28
After spending billions of years in the Oort Cloud, and spending the last five or so million years traveling perhaps half a light-year towards the Sun, it appears Comet ISON did not survive it close solar encounter on November 28 at 1:37 pm EST.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTImages show the comet heading for perihelion, but fading as it arced behind the Sun. It should have been recovered as it "rounded" the Sun, but only a cloud of debris seems to have continued along the comet's orbit, suggesting ISON disintegrated. See this link.
Unless something very unusual happens (remember, comets in general are very unpredictable), as a result of this suspected catastrophic breakup there will be no further opportunities to observe Comet ISON with the naked-eye or otherwise as I previously had written about.
November 29
The last chapter in the life of comet ISON may not have been written yet.
The latest images do show something did survive perihelion passage. See this video link, and this link for one of the latest still shots. What that "something" is is now being analyzed and debated all over the web. Some astronomers believe that the appearance and behavior of the object(s) being imaged most likely indicate the nucleus of Comet ISON disintegrated, leaving an unknown number of fragments that will soon disappear as well. Only time will tell.
If ISON or its remnants could talk, I would imagine it would quote a line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "I'm not dead!"
Updates to come as more details emerge.
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