Comet ISON Options

[Eyesonmars]

If you do anything, make sure you can get away from city lights on moonless nights to see a comet's tail in its full glory. The brightness may turn out to be not too 'impressive', but comets really stand out in a dark sky. Hyakutake looked like an ill-defined smudge from the city, but after we got out into the country, it spanned a stunning 50 degrees. Imagine a recessed spotlight in a darkened and slightly smoky theater.

I was in the wilds of southern Utah in March and April of 1996 and was looking forward to Hale-Bopp. Never even heard of Hyakutake. So when one of my fellow backpackers woke me up in the middle of the night of March 24-25 and told me there is a huge comet like thing in the sky I didn't bother to go out and look. When she told me it was actually moving against the stars I told told her that she must have been drinking too much "mormon tea" - lol. When she eventually dragged me out I was stunned. Nothing I've ever seen in the sky comes close to the majestic views of that night. Indeed,it moved noticeably in only an hour or so. Hale-Bopp was upstaged - big time.

[tedstryk]

Hyakutake was the next comet I saw, and I never saw a lot of a tail from it, just an elongated fuzzy patch in the sky. Really not that impressive.

Are you kidding? You could actually see the thing moving against background stars.

[Eyesonmars]

I know that sounds incredible and I had the same reaction as you

But it was only about 0.1au from earth and in a near hyperbolic orbit traveling at near hyperbolic speeds.

[Stu]

I was lucky enough to enjoy some really good views of Hyakutake from here in Cumbria, but the best was from way out in the middle of the Cumbrian fells, standing in the gravel path of a farm field in the shadow of one of the mountains. Pitch black. Not a breath of wind. Silent but for the bleating of sheep, and the distant thrumm of a passing car miles away - and totally cloudy.
We'd driven out there after a forecast of clear weather, but when we arrived the sky was still totally overcast, but it was so far out in the countryside we decided to hang around a while rather than turn back. Eventually a small clear patch appeared, stars twinkling like diamonds within it. Then the gap just ripped open, like stretched cloth, and there was the tail of Hyakutake, painted across the sky like a WW2 anti aircraft searchlight. At first we refused to believe that was "it", the tail, but then the head appeared at the end and there was no other explanation.

Three hours we stood there, gazing at that tail. It was ridiculously beautiful, like a single auroral ray lancing across the sky.

Comet ISON? Bring it on.

[ups]

It would be amazing to see something like the great comet of 1680.

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[Pertinax]

The differing recollections of Hyakutake are great illustration of the impact of light pollution. It was for me my first great comet, having only seen (the disappointing) Austin (http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1994JALPO..37..171M) a handful of years before. (Never got a successful look at Halleys.) The impact of light pollution was vividly illustrated as we drove out of State College, PA where Hyakutake was visible only as a 'fuzzy star' to gradually emerge into being a nearly indescribable green beam across the sky in the dark skies of central PA ~15-30 min out. My friends who lever left campus didn't understand why people were so excited about the comet as it was "only a fuzzy star". Those who trekked out to dark skies enjoyed a view that would remain with them for life.

I hope ISON, or even PANSTARS, will be such an experience for others (and for myself as well ).


-- Pertinax

[rlorenz]

That would be an amazing first! Let's hope for clear skies on two planets!

From the surface, perhaps. Though recall that Halley was observed by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter..

[Stu]

Don't forget that 2013 will be The Year of the CometS, with another naked eye comet due to decorate the northern sky after sunset in March and April. Comet PANSTARRS runs the risk of being relegated to "warm up act" for ISON, but it might still be very impressive. Finder charts here...

http://waitingforison.wordpress.com/comet-panstarrs

[Bjorn Jonsson]

It's always somewhere in my mind that things may be 'overhyped' when I see newspaper headlines like some of those I've seen recently. No one knows what ISON is going to do - there's a good chance (unusually good even) that it may become a really great comet but it could just as well fizzle out.

Regarding Hyakutake and the preceding discussion - it is definitely the most spectacular comet I've ever seen. What sets it apart is that it was so big in the sky, much bigger than all of the other comets I've seen.

[Stu]

It's always somewhere in my mind that things may be 'overhyped' when I see newspaper headlines like some of those I've seen recently. No one knows what ISON is going to do - there's a good chance (unusually good even) that it may become a really great comet but it could just as well fizzle out.

Absolutely. Which is why I go to great pains on the blog to point out that we just don't know what will happen with either comet, and people should calm down a little.

(I'm actually getting criticised by some people for playing down the prospects for the comets, would you believe. Can't win! )

[stevesliva]

Are you kidding? You could actually see the thing moving against background stars.

I remember an unimpressive fuzzy blob, too, from a location with pretty mediocre viewing conditions.

I think Halley had predisposed me to expect little, and seeing little, assume that was it.

[Gladstoner]

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[nprev]

I plan to be deep in the Mojave Desert with my Celestron NexStar 8 & a set of wide-field eyepieces during the optimal dates.

[imipak]

Probably little new here for UMSF comet fans, but interesting nevertheless, including comparison with 1680: http://www.nightskyhunter.com/Sky%20Events%20Now.html

(edit - scroll down for the relevant posts.)

[TheAnt]

The comet ISON were first discovered by Russian astronomers working as part of the International Scientific Optical Network.
The projected path of comet ISON are quite similar to the great comet of 1680, so there's some speculation it might share a common origin.
If the comet it survives the passage of the Sun without breaking up it might become the brightest comet for a long time. (Though most on this forum also know to take such a statement with quite some grains of salt since a number of comets have turned out to be quite less dramatic than the early predictions.) The best opportunities to watch this comet will eventually be between October 2013 to January 2014.

Reuters story on ISON