WATCH LIVE TODAY @ 1 pm ET: Comet ISON Buzzes the Sun, SpaceX Rocket Launch

Space.com ^ | 28 November, 2013 | Staff

[Errant]

NASA will hold a live Google+ hangout on Thursday (Nov. 28) to webcast the solar passage of Comet ISON as it whips around the sun. The webcast will begin at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) and last until 3:30 p.m. EST (2030 GMT). You will be able to watch the webcast live in the window below at the start time. LATEST STORY: Comet ISON Makes Thanksgiving Day Sun Flyby Today: Watch It Live Online

[Errant]

It sure is!

[Starstruck]

What is the perspective on that shot? Is the comet now heading in the general direction of the camera and where is the camera located?

[winoneforthegipper]

Great pic....thanks!~

[winoneforthegipper]

Good animation here...!

http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2013/11/29/weird_anim2.gif

[The Cajun]

Yup, good loop.
Amazing how the tail stays in a wide *V* or delta configuration.
Looked like it was going to orient away from the sun and concentrate into a normal tail, but didn't.
Around where the nucleus should be (just guessing), seems to be a very bright, tight *V* that hasn't reorientated yet.

At least it looks like it didn't, could be viewing angle and a function of what type of image processing they're using.

[machogirl]

I remember watching the Shoemaker-Levy hit Jupiter. Awesome sight it was.

[Errant]

What is the perspective on that shot?

It was taken from a satellite (SOHO) located between the Sun and Earth, so you could say it is Sun/Earth facing. The comet is now approaching the camera/earth, but above and to the right, or passing in a few weeks in front of earth's current position. The earth will pass underneath ISON's exit debris trail.

[Errant]

That was awesome! It was proof that comets do impact planets and alarmed us all at the time. The debris cloud thrown up from each impact of the comet’s pieces (some a mile in diameter) into Jupiter’s atmosphere, were the same diameter as the earth!

[Errant]

Another good vid from BPEarthwatch. Sorry gipper... ;)

ISON's Nucleus Appears Highly Fragmented.

Bet she still puts on a great show!

[machogirl]

That pic. There is a video on youtube claiming that NASA used the same pic for over an hour to hide what really happened on the flipside. (basis is the Sun appears to be stationary with respect to the fluidity while the time stamp runs for an hour)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DZe-RO0vf8

[Errant]

Have you seen this report?

The Art of Breaking Up: Fragmentation vs. Disintegration

[machogirl]

That was a good vid.

[The Cajun]

Heck, that sounded like a "good old boy" from Mississippi judging from that accent.

Probably knows what he's talking about.

Good vid, btw, like the high res. closeups of the nucleus, kind of says it all.

[winoneforthegipper]

I am not buyin that what I am buying though is one hell of a rotation.

If you look at the incoming loops you can see two trails. They theorize that’s because the moment of the comet was vaporizing.

So what happens when u heat one side of an object and not the other respectively?
lol

[winoneforthegipper]

Yeah the conspiracy theorists are out in force...lol

[The Cajun]

What's bad with a *hell of a rotation*, with next to no gravity because of being so small, it'll be constantly throwing off largish chunks with the heating/cooling thing.
Could turn itself into a very diffused, wide ball of *grape shot*.

Just wilda-- guessing again.

[winoneforthegipper]

Nope you are absolutely right...however I think what has happened is we are talking metal core now and it’s maximum rotation values are much higher than the original ice ball.

Right now it’s still getting bombarded by Sol’s minions my guess is that it holds together and settles down in the next day or so....

[winoneforthegipper]

Here is a comprehensive totally watchable two day loop.

Notice in the end how the tail flips and is still in the process.

http://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/images/9-small-bodies/2013/20131129_ison_cor2-b_20131129_083900_dbc2B.gif

[machogirl]

That’s a lot of dust.

[winoneforthegipper]

That and the tail is re-orientating so really this past day has been a mess to observe how much is debris..just blown away or the actual tail of the comet.