{"id":5512,"date":"2013-12-03T03:23:01","date_gmt":"2013-12-03T03:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5512"},"modified":"2013-12-03T03:23:01","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T03:23:01","slug":"the-ison-story-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5512","title":{"rendered":"The ISON story continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest on comet ISON:<\/p>\n

NASA Investigating the Life of Comet ISON<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

After several days of continued observations, scientists continue to work to determine and to understand the fate of Comet ISON: There’s no doubt that the comet shrank in size considerably as it rounded the sun and there’s no doubt that something made it out on the other side to shoot back into space. The question remains as to whether the bright spot seen moving away from the sun was simply debris, or whether a small nucleus of the original ball of ice was still there. Regardless, it is likely that it is now only dust.<\/p>\n

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\"Comet<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Comet ISON comes in from the bottom right and moves out toward the upper right, getting fainter and fainter, in this time-lapse image from the ESA\/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. The image of the sun at the center is from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Image Credit:\u00a0ESA\/NASA\/SOHO\/SDO\/GSFC<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Comet ISON, which began its journey from the Oort Cloud some 3 million years ago, made its closest approach to the sun on Nov. 28, 2013. The comet was visible in instruments on NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, and the joint European Space Agency\/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, via images called coronagraphs. Coronagraphs block out the sun and a considerable distance around it, in order to better observe the dim structures in the sun’s atmosphere, the corona. As such, there was a period of several hours when the comet was obscured in these images, blocked from view along with the sun. During this period of time, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory could not see the comet, leading many scientists to surmise that the comet had disintegrated completely. However, something did reappear in SOHO and STEREO coronagraphs some time later \u2013 though it was significantly less bright.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/youtu.be\/kcROVqmF9SY<\/div>\n
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Comet ISON is shown approaching the sun and curving away from it in this movie containing imagery from both NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory and the joint ESA\/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory from November 2013. ISON dims dramatically as it streams away from the sun.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Image Credit:\u00a0ESA\/NASA\/SOHO\/STEREO\/GSFC<\/em><\/div>\n
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Whether that spot of light was merely a cloud of dust that once was a comet, or if it still had a nucleus \u2013 a small ball of its original, icy material \u2013 intact, is still unclear. It seems likely that as of Dec. 1, there was no nucleus left. By monitoring its changes in brightness over time, scientists can estimate whether there’s a nucleus or not, but our best chance at knowing for sure will be if the Hubble Space Telescope makes observations later in December 2013.<\/p>\n

Regardless of its fate, Comet ISON did not disappoint researchers. Over the last year, observatories around the world and in space gathered one of the largest sets of comet observations of all time, which should provide fodder for study for years to come. The number of space-based, ground-based, and amateur observations were unprecedented, with twelve NASA space-based assets observing over the past year.<\/p>\n

Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information on Comet ISON:\u00a0www.nasa.gov\/ison<\/a><\/p>\n

To download recent ISON imagery:\u00a0http:\/\/svs.gsfc.nasa.gov\/Gallery\/CometISON.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest on comet ISON: NASA Investigating the Life of Comet ISON After several days of continued observations, scientists continue to work to determine and to understand the fate of Comet ISON: There’s no doubt that the comet shrank in size considerably as it rounded the sun and there’s no doubt that something made it … Continue reading The ISON story continues<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,12,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asteroids","category-astronomy","category-events"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-1qU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5469,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5469","url_meta":{"origin":5512,"position":0},"title":"Comet ISON swings around the sun [Update]","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0Comet ISON\u00a0 swung behind the Sun today. Initial reports were that it did not survive its close encounter with the big heat but others are now saying that there appears to be a small object that remains on the same trajectory. Will watch for updates. [ Update 1:10 am Nov.29.13:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"ISON approaches the Sun as seen from SOHO LASCO C3 (Nov 28, 2013)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/assets\/images\/9-small-bodies\/2013\/20131128_ison_lasco-c3_20131128_1537_c3_1024.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5475,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5475","url_meta":{"origin":5512,"position":1},"title":"ISON – The die hard comet","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Evidence is growing that a part of the Comet ISON nucleus did in fact survive its close solar experience (see previous posting). Here is a report from NASA: Comet ISON May Have Survived Continuing a history of surprising behavior, material from Comet ISON appeared on the other side of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/ison-survives_0.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5428,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5428","url_meta":{"origin":5512,"position":2},"title":"Comet ISON update – Swinging around the sun, Images from NASA spacecraft, and more","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As mentioned earlier,\u00a0Comet ISON\u00a0has brightened considerably as it has gotten closer to the sun. It will go behind the sun on November 28th and there is great interest in how the comet will be affected by this closest encounter to the sun's intense heat. Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"figure2_messenger_ison[1]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/figure2_messenger_ison1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4857,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=4857","url_meta":{"origin":5512,"position":3},"title":"Comet ISON moving closer","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The comet\u00a0C\/2012 S1, or ISON as it is called, will pass close to the sun this November. The big question is whether it will put on a big show for the unaide eyes of everyone or just be visible to those looking through telescopes. At the moment is it is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/skycenter.arizona.edu\/sites\/skycenter.arizona.edu\/files\/imagecache\/temp_gallery\/ison_10082013.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/skycenter.arizona.edu\/sites\/skycenter.arizona.edu\/files\/imagecache\/temp_gallery\/ison_10082013.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/skycenter.arizona.edu\/sites\/skycenter.arizona.edu\/files\/imagecache\/temp_gallery\/ison_10082013.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5274,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5274","url_meta":{"origin":5512,"position":4},"title":"Comets ISON and Lovejoy in timelapse video","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Photographer\u00a0Justin Ng\u00a0created these\u00a0timelapse sequences of Comet ISON and Comet Lovejoy\u00a0images (via\u00a0Universe Today). Timelapse of Comet ISON and Comet Lovejoy from Justin Ng Photo on Vimeo. \u00a0Find the latest news and imagery for Comet ISON\u00a0and\u00a0Comet Lovejoy\u00a0at these sites: Comet ISON Observing Campaign Comet ISON News - Comet ISON news, photos, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5237,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5237","url_meta":{"origin":5512,"position":5},"title":"Comet ISON starting to light up","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Comet ISON is brightening up enough to see it with binoculars:\u00a0Spaceweather.com - Nov.9.13\u00a0- COMET ISON NOW A BINOCULAR OBJECT:\u00a0Comet ISON is brightening as it approaches the sun. Multiple observers now report that it is a binocular object. \"I finally saw Comet ISON for the first time using small binoculars!\" says\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5513,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5512\/revisions\/5513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}