Posted on 12/31/2012 3:58:25 AM PST by Olog-hai
A comet blazing toward Earth could outshine the full moon when it passes by at the end of next yearif it survives its close encounter with the sun.
The recently discovered object, known as comet ISON, is due to fly within 1.2 million miles (1.9 million km) from the center of the sun on Nov. 28, 2013 said astronomer Donald Yeomans, head of NASAs Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
As the comet approaches, heat from the sun will vaporize ices in its body, creating what could be a spectacular tail that is visible in Earths night sky without telescopes or even binoculars from about October 2013 through January 2014.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I hope its a good one.
I hope a small chunk of it lands in Washington DC.
I waited all my young life in anticipation of the return of Halley’s Comet.
Hearing my mother describe seeing it when she was 10 y.o., I was more than disappointed.
Sooooo, I am going into ‘seeing is believing’ mode. Esp. with the liberal use of the word ‘could’ in the article.
Remember Comet Kohoutek? Also hyped to be brighter than the moon.
I actually did manage to see it with binoculars.
+1
A comet “blazing towards earth.” It’s a hunk of icy rock. Not a blaze near it. Come on, Reuters.
Another end-of-the-world coming soon.
Yea, I thought I could see it for an instant then someone in the neighborhood turned on their porch light LOL
Yes, I remember it. Took some time photos of it. Expected the pics to turn out well. I used tri-X film and tracked the comet in different times from 5 min. to 15 min.
But, we moved shortly after the event and the undeveloped rolls got lost in the shuffle. I’ll bet they would have been very good pic.
At least I can pronounce this one.
a few miles diameter would be good
Which comet was it about 10 years ago that took up about 1/10th of the entire nighttime sky? It was huge!
I went out into the country to get away from the city lights, and I was expecting or hoping to see a tiny little comet with a little tail behind it.. but instead I look outside and the thing was huge- it was about the size of 4 widths of the full moon, at least
Pretty spectacular- but you do have to get out of the city to see it- I could not see it from my home at all
Question..this comet is supposed to pass very near that earth..inside the orbit of some satellites............with the meld off and possible breaking off of parts on this comet. .is it orbital path still predictable or may it be altered to some degree?
Back in the day comets were seen as ill omens and portents of disasters. I figure by the end of 2013 after going off the fiscal Niagra Falls without a barrel, another year of Obama’s Marxism and Obamacare looming it will be a disaster for this country with the comet just lighting the way.
“Before its close approach, Kohoutek was hyped by the media as the “comet of the century”. However, Kohoutek’s display was considered a let-down.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Kohoutek
In 1973, David Berg, founder of the Children of God, predicted that Comet Kohoutek foretold a colossal doomsday event in the United States in January 1974.[4][5] Children of God members distributed Berg's messages, which warned of impending doom, across the country. The majority of U.S.-based members then fled in anticipation to existing group communes (or formed new ones) around the world.
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