As if Thanksgiving and the first day of Chanukah falling on
the same day were not coincidence enough, the comet ISON will be at its closest
point to the sun—about 750,000 miles away-- on that day, Thursday, Nov. 28th.
Grossmont College Astronomy Prof. Ross Cohen says for people who don’t have the proper equipment for comet watching, at the time of its closest approach to the sun, it is safest to turn to the Internet or to television to view images from satellites that will be tracking the comet from various vantage points in space.
At its closest point to the sun, called the perihelion, Comet ISON skims past the sun– as viewed from Earth. But various satellites have other vantage points and might even see it cross in front of the sun.
Grossmont College Astronomy Prof. Ross Cohen says for people who don’t have the proper equipment for comet watching, at the time of its closest approach to the sun, it is safest to turn to the Internet or to television to view images from satellites that will be tracking the comet from various vantage points in space.
At its closest point to the sun, called the perihelion, Comet ISON skims past the sun– as viewed from Earth. But various satellites have other vantage points and might even see it cross in front of the sun.
If Comet ISON survives the transit, it is expected to
display a bright trail of rock, ice and other space materials gathered from its
origin in the mammoth Oort Cloud, a vast expanse of comets surrounding our
solar system. Cohen suggests that
pre-dawn in the first several days of December may be the safest time to see
the comet because viewers won’t have to contend with the sun’s glare.