KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
Comet ISON probably broke up approaching the sun, NASA says, after comet fails to emerge
National Post Staff and Canadian Press | 28/11/13 3:56 PM ET
Comet ISON fought the sun, and as of Thursday afternoon, it looks like the sun has won.
NASA
scientists said that early indications showed that the comet’s nucleus —
its solid core of water, rock and gas about two kilometres across —
broke apart as ISON hit the corona, the area surrounding the sun. At
that point it was only about 1.6 million kilometres away from the star’s
surface.Scientists took live(ish) video of the comet’s approach to the sun,
hoping to use NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) to catch
it coming out the other side. Unfortunately, so far the comet has not
yet emerged.According to NASA scientists, the shape of the comet just before it
passed by the sun — pointed at the end instead of rounded — implied that
the nucleus had broken up. Additionally, a “smear” on many of the
images implies that material has torn off from the comet and broken
apart.
Although the breakup of the comet might assist scientists trying to
figure out what ISON was made of, it’s a blow to stargazers who hoped to
see the comet in the night sky as it passed back around the sun.
Paul Delaney, professor of physics and astronomy at Toronto’s York University, said ISON’s size and proximity to the sun could have ushered in a spectacular light show.While several dozen comets travel near the Earth every year, Delaney said many of them don’t come within close range of the sun. Those that do, he added, are often too small to become visible to the naked eye.
ISON appeared to be a different beast, he said, explaining that a comet becomes visible when the material contained in its nucleus becomes heated and begins emitting gas.“The comet becomes surrounded by this sort of gas cloud, and this gas cloud can end up being literally tens of thousands of kilometres in diameter,” Delaney said in a telephone interview.“It can trail material behind it for literally millions of kilometres, meaning that we’ve now got this object which has got a very large surface area to reflect light. And that’s what gives us a really terrific show here on Earth.”Comets that pass close to the sun — often known as sun-grazing comets — are often too small to have much impact for stargazers, he said.
But ISON itself had a nucleus of approximately two kilometres wide,
making it comparatively large for one with such close proximity to the
sun.ISON’s relative size meant it was likely to produce a similarly large gas cloud, Delaney said.“As it rounds the sun and gets heated to nearly 2,700 degrees Celsius
— it will really be roasted — all of the volatile materials trapped
within have the potential of outgassing,” he said. “And if that happens
the comet gets bigger, the tail gets longer, and the comet gets that
much brighter.”Delaney said ISON’s light show, if it had survived, wouldn’t have started until December.There is still a faint hope that the comet’s metaphasic shields have
held, and it will appear on NASA’s SDO scopes in the next few days.
NASA
scientists said that early indications showed that the comet’s nucleus —
its solid core of water, rock and gas about two kilometres across —
broke apart as ISON hit the corona, the area surrounding the sun. At
that point it was only about 1.6 million kilometres away from the star’s
surface.Scientists took live(ish) video of the comet’s approach to the sun,
hoping to use NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) to catch
it coming out the other side. Unfortunately, so far the comet has not
yet emerged.According to NASA scientists, the shape of the comet just before it
passed by the sun — pointed at the end instead of rounded — implied that
the nucleus had broken up. Additionally, a “smear” on many of the
images implies that material has torn off from the comet and broken
apart.It appears Comet #ISON has disintegrated from its dangerous trip around the Sun. Its been a great year. A journey we shared together.—
Comet ISON (@ISONUpdates) November 28, 2013
NASAAnother image causing scientists to think that the comet has broken up.
Paul Delaney, professor of physics and astronomy at Toronto’s York University, said ISON’s size and proximity to the sun could have ushered in a spectacular light show.While several dozen comets travel near the Earth every year, Delaney said many of them don’t come within close range of the sun. Those that do, he added, are often too small to become visible to the naked eye.
ISON appeared to be a different beast, he said, explaining that a comet becomes visible when the material contained in its nucleus becomes heated and begins emitting gas.“The comet becomes surrounded by this sort of gas cloud, and this gas cloud can end up being literally tens of thousands of kilometres in diameter,” Delaney said in a telephone interview.“It can trail material behind it for literally millions of kilometres, meaning that we’ve now got this object which has got a very large surface area to reflect light. And that’s what gives us a really terrific show here on Earth.”Comets that pass close to the sun — often known as sun-grazing comets — are often too small to have much impact for stargazers, he said.
NASAComet
ISON moves ever closer to the sun in this image from ESA and NASA's
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, captured at 9:30 a.m. EST
on Nov. 28, 2013
