Comet ISON update!

[MYLUCKYSTARS]

So, it's gone from somethng to nothing to something to nothing to something to dead to possibly alive again. Will this thing please make up it's damn mind. Recent SOHO shots looks pretty impressive though, there is hope still.

From Comet of the Century to looks like it over to it's over to a surprising survival to there's a bit of hope left...

[Special K]

Wow!  (again)

It cannot be denied that it is growing brighter with every image.  It's too small to be a Hale-Bopp but could a viable target in December.  7:30 is very bright!  Lovely, lovely, lovely! 

[DaveHKent]

Brilliant news to wake up to this morning. The 8:18 image is up, but not a huge change since the last one. I'm certainly excited by it

[SHUTTLE ATLANTIS]

morning

ive no finger nails left now what a night up down up down heart sunk at one stage but now full of  hope we get to see whats left

come on ison .

[cosmosboy]

can it still be a naked eye comet ? it looks brighter but it is too small and no tail atm too . so what's the indication ?

[SnakeyJ]

If you look at the background star field in these C3 images, the relative brightness of object diminishes as they get closer to the suns disk - so it's not so surprising to see this apparent brightening as Ison moves away from the sun.

But looking at IanL's montage of C3 shots, I would argue that Ison must be a higher mag now than it was @ 27/11 22:18 given it's still much closer.

Great fun speculating and will be interesting to see what the boffins release this morning.

[MYLUCKYSTARS]

[JB80]

The little speck that was first posted here is only just starting to be discussed in the yahoo group where the big hitters in cometography are posting their updates.

Looks as if some missed it first time around.

Oh, and 'morning all.

[nerointegrale16v]

two tails forming ???

or am i just hoping

[cosmosboy]

Comet ISON emerged from today's close brush with the Sun as a headless ghost, as seen in the animation at right. Notice how the brightest strand, somewhat back from the leading point, is shedding material radially away from the Sun, as if vast numbers of debris chunks in the cloud are all behaving as tiny comet nuclei. The cloud is expected to disperse.

[SnakeyJ]

ESA Site C3 08:18hrs:

Still around 1hr 20 mins old - surely NASA can afford to beef up its web operation, I haven't been able to connect to their site at all this morning.

[JB80]

Also some speculation the speck picture is not real.

It was posted pretty quickly, I think it may be a case of too many people had their papers all done and dusted ready for submission instead of paying attention.

[Beulah]

Glad I am not the only one, Jake. I am guessing that NASA did not anticipate so much interest. Immensely frustrating. I have been having problems viewing the SOHO images for several hours now. 

I've had to rely on you guys and have been checking up on this thread whilst getting on with offline stuff at the same time!

[JB80]

ftp://sohoftp.nascom.nasa.gov/incoming/lasco/rtmovie_jpg24/20131129_0911_c3.jpg

Still there.

[DaveHKent]

I think it looks like two tails too, but surely the 'lower' tail in those shots would not form in the direction of the sun?

[SnakeyJ]

ftp://sohoftp.nascom.nasa.gov/incoming/lasco/rtmovie_jpg24/20131129_0911_c3.jpg

Still there.

Thanks Jarrod - helpful link, the ftp site is a much better response.

[Paul M]

There must be a nucleus there still as new material blowing down sun from it.

On approach the tail was well formed because it remained on an almost linear track.

Now it's swung round the tail is getting very much fanned out. Once it stabilises on its outward trajectory I imagine a nice straight tail will re form.

Sent from my ZT ICS using Tapatalk 4

[MYLUCKYSTARS]

In C3: http://soho.esac.esa.int/data/realtime/c3/512/ but not C2: http://soho.esac.esa.int/data/realtime/c2/512/  anyone know why this might be?

[JB80]

Thanks Jarrod - helpful link, the ftp site is a much better response.

Yeah it's a good one and was reliable last night so check on that I would say.

[JB80]

In C3: http://soho.esac.esa.int/data/realtime/c3/512/ but not C2: http://soho.esac.esa.int/data/realtime/c2/512/  anyone know why this might be?

I'm pretty sure it has left C2s field of view so can't be seen in that any more.

[DaveHKent]

Glad I am not the only one, Jake. I am guessing that NASA did not anticipate so much interest. Immensely frustrating. I have been having problems viewing the SOHO images for several hours now. 

I've had to rely on you guys and have been checking up on this thread whilst getting on with offline stuff at the same time!

On the other hand, although frustrating that it is not instant, how cool is it that we can view images within an hour or two of a satellite way out in space, taking pictures of the sun? Watching the images come in and some of the data feeds last night really made me feel part of what is going on (same with the Curiosity landing). There is room for improvement, but this is far better than waiting 3 weeks for the next Sky At Night to be on or pick up a story in the Daily Mail with their own unique spin on it.

[Bluey]

Although this may not turn out to be 'Comet Of The Century' visually, it has certainly been a character, and one heck of a ride!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Glad to see it seems to be alive again. From "Pushing up the daisies, joined the choir invisible" to "I'm not dead yet!.... I'm feeling better!" quite a roller-coaster ride. No chance of seeing it here at the moment

[Shibby]

Here's a video I've just made with the latest (low-res) STEREO imagery; the ahead craft followed by behind. I think it shows a nice view of the comet up to 09:24 this morning.

ISON's certainly proving interesting, if not promising for spectacular observing.

[SnakeyJ]

On the other hand, although frustrating that it is not instant, how cool is it that we can view images within an hour or two of a satellite way out in space, taking pictures of the sun? Watching the images come in and some of the data feeds last night really made me feel part of what is going on (same with the Curiosity landing). There is room for improvement, but this is far better than waiting 3 weeks for the next Sky At Night to be on or pick up a story in the Daily Mail with their own unique spin on it.

The images are excellent - I think it's fair to say that the demand has swamped the website, but Jarrods FTP link seems to be much more reliable but still lags 'real time' by almost an hour.   Still you can't blame the boffins for wanting to get a first look in on the data.