Comet ISON’s Thrilling Journey
by Grant Regen
This November an exciting show will be put on in the sky. Comet ISON, discovered in late September of 2012, is expected to be one of the best comets ever seen by mankind. To view ISON you need to wake up early in the morning before the sun rises. In mid-November comet ISON will be in the south-east portion of the sky. To view the comet on the week of the 10th, wake up about three hours before the sun rises. On this week the comet will be visible with the naked eye in dark sky areas but will be able to be seen with binoculars anywhere.
The following week of the 17th, wake up about two hours and thirty minutes before sunrise to see the comet. Now the comet will be a naked eye object anywhere, but will still look better in binoculars. At this time the comet will be about 25 degrees from the horizon. A smaller sized telescope would also make the comet look spectacular at this time.
The week of the 24th is the time when the comet will be its brightest. To see the comet this week, viewers need to wake up an hour to thirty minutes, as the week digresses, before sunrise. The comet will be ten to five degrees above the horizon. At this time the comet will be its brightest and most visible to the naked eye. Look for the tail of the comet when observing as well as its coma, or core.
Why is Comet ISON so amazing? To answer this we need to look at what type of comet ISON is. All comets orbit the sun, but some get so close to the sun they are arranged in a class of comets known as sun grazers. These comets get extremely hot as they round the sun and the material on them ionizes and reflects light which makes them shine bright in the sky. Comet ISON is a sun grazer that also is coming close to Earth making it even brighter! Be sure to observe Comet ISON this month for a true “out of this world” show.