Is ison dead?

[LouisJB]

I've never been so keen for a comet to survive before, I hope enough of it survived so I might get an image of it during its December retreat. Time will tell I guess.

[NotSoSuperNova]

Welcome to the lounge, enjoy your stay.

[cassiewoofer]

Hope it makes it, here's an old pic from months back I found on the net.

https://twitter.com/pascalou_petit/status/404673134550188032/photo/1/large

[LeeWilky]

Latest from Nasa is that something definately survived and appears to be getting brighter   http://www.nasa.gov/

[LouisJB]

yes, I've been watching today the SOHO images and video, whatever survived seems to have gained a proper tail, pointing away from the Sun, just like a comet should, maybe more of it survived than first feared?

[LeeWilky]

yes, I've been watching today the SOHO images and video, whatever survived seems to have gained a proper tail, pointing away from the Sun, just like a comet should, maybe more of it survived than first feared?

Thats what im hoping   Theres something magical about comets and they dont come round often enough for my liking.  Fingers crossed Ison is tougher than we thought and gives us a great show!

[houston]

My wife and i watched the national geographic program about ison last night, first time she has heard about it really, cant believe how sad she was when sky news said it was basically dead. Something about comets i guess we all love.

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[NIGHTBOY]

Well I'm going to see if I can see it early Sunday morning, where should I be looking???

[LukeSkywatcher]

Well I'm going to see if I can see it early Sunday morning, where should I be looking???

Its still going to be low down in the east @ about 5am. Its wont rise much before the glare of the sun drowns it out so it could be tricky.

This is assuming a large enough chunk of it survived and is bright enough to see.

[Superdavo]

There's definitely something! It's just a matter of what. I hope it's bright enough to be  first ever comet! I just wish we could had a landed on the nucleus. Boy it would have had a spectacular view!

David

[LukeSkywatcher]

If anything (and i suspect it has) survived, how high will it rise in the sky on its return journey (assuming it hasnt been slung out to the depths of space in the wrong direction) ?. I spotted ISON a couple of weeks ago low down in the east (about 14 degrees elevation) @5am. I wasnt at home at the time and i simply dont have a clear view east anywhere near the 14 degrees.

[LouisJB]

Well as far as I know it's still on the path it should be, so that means it will go right across the sky towards Polaris and beyond. How bright it will be and when I'm not sure. I think from 3rd Dec onwards it will be visible. Hope it's still visible enough to image with a scope, even if it's too dim to see with the naked eye.

[Paul M]

Other than by on board propulsion (ie a very strong eruptive jet of material) I can't see why or how Ison could change its trajectory.

It's mass, or part there of, is on a gravitational sling shot that won't be easily changed.

Basically, other than total destruction of the nucleus, what goes in must come out.

From what I've seen it's exactly where it should be. Somewhat diminished perhaps but still very much on its calculated orbit.

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[LukeSkywatcher]

Well as far as I know it's still on the path it should be, so that means it will go right across the sky towards Polaris and beyond. How bright it will be and when I'm not sure. I think from 3rd Dec onwards it will be visible. Hope it's still visible enough to image with a scope, even if it's too dim to see with the naked eye.

Thanks for that. At a struggle from my back garden i can eyeball Polaris, so i stand a snowball's chance in hell (sorry for the bad pun) of maybe observing ISON on its return flight back out into space. 

From the SOHO images, i'm guessing about half of ISON survived.

[LouisJB]

I use Stellarium to track where ISON should be, looks like it's still going to be best early morning before sunrise (not good for me) but I guess we need to see how dim it gets over the next few days. If it stays over mag 10 ish then any small telescope should be able to pick it out, if you can find it!

[acey]

Did ISON survive its passage around the Sun? Something did! The comet's head dwindled away yesterday as it raced through the Sun's greatest heat, but then a headless streak emerged back into spacecraft view out from the other side of the encounter. It's traveling along its prescribed track toward possible dawn view from Earth.

November 29, 10:30 p.m. EST: A fading ghost. At 19:54 UT Filip Fratev (Bulgarian Acadamy of Sciences) wrote, "ISON [has] started to fade.... [in] the last four hours it faded by more than 2 magnitudes and obviously is less bright... I estimated the comet to be between 2.6 and 3.1 magnitude now."

Four hours later Karl Battams of the Comet ISON Observing Campaign tweeted, "We can't tell if #ISON is in one piece or many. It's about mag 5 now and fading."

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/Comet-ISON-Updates-193909261.html