Is anyone else _not_ disappointed by ISON

[jnb]

Don't get me wrong. I would have preferred it to live up to its billing of the comet of the century but I suspect for the majority of people it was always going to be a disappointment. Yes it might have reached venus like brightnesses but it was going to be a morning object and for most of the general public that means they probably would never even have noticed it.

[Ptarmigan]

Don't get me wrong. I would have preferred it to live up to its billing of the comet of the century but I suspect for the majority of people it was always going to be a disappointment.

Awww, dont be too cynical when the next one comes along !

That is a bit of a fault of the media over the past few years(decades?); a media hungry for new spectacular, exclusive, "I only am priviledged to know this and I am now going to reveal it to you" type reporting. Aided and abetted by twitter/facebook where peeps need to declare their 'firstishness' not their desire to inform

As I said elsewhere on the forum :

"I think ISON was spectacular : the first one that I have seen die in (almost) real time, thank you SOHO/LASCO that was a good ride And I am eagerly awaiting the analysis(postmortem) by the professionals. "

[Treeden]

Comet Ison fullfilled it's destiny without regard for the cares, whims or thoughts of those who dwell on the third rock. If any were disappointed that it didn’t live up to their expectations, then maybe they should lower their sights a little.  Maybe stand on a beach and command the tide to retreat?
  
We were... we are, lucky to be afforded the opportunity to observe such a rare and spectacular event.  We have learned much from its visit and I for one am certainly not disappointed.

[Stu]

Agreed. Not really surprised, and any disappointment at its break up is more than made up by the excitement and fascination at being able to watch its journey in near real time on the Interweb. Great stuff

Stu

[Stargazer_00]

The should try and fire a probe with a collector through the debris field and bring some of the comet's insides bck to earth for analysis.

[ronin]

The should try and fire a probe with a collector through the debris field and bring some of the comet's insides bck to earth for analysis.

That would take about 5 years to organise. :eek:

If they were efficent. :grin:

Worked at Astrium for a while and the only efficent aspect they have is being efficent at being inefficent. :evil:

[Kirscovitch]

Only disappointment I have is I have not been able to visually see it. And probably won't be able to. Too early in the morning and low in the sky. 

Was nice to see it approach the sun and see it break apart on various websites. 

[DeepThought]

Much as we all would have loved a spectacular comet to look at, there's a certain thrill to be taken from realising you have witnessed the last moments of an object that probably started its life some 4.6 billion years ago.

[Dave]

I'm not disappointed.
It's been an absolutely fascinating event with its demise followed quite spectacularly on SOHO images.

Yes it would have been great to have a spectacular comet in the sky.

But I suppose they are not put there just for our own entertainment.

What has been extremely entertaining was the lack of agreement and arguments from the experts, leading up to, during and post-perihelion.

I love it when nothing is clear cut or understood fully.
Long may comets remain enigmatic and very unpredictable.

[fredster]

Hmm now do i tow the party line, british stiff upper lip and all that, say i'm not disappointed and what a fantastic scientific opportunity it was.

Or shall i say it truthfully. Yes it was a great scieintific event, a great chance for the scientific community to analyze the death of a comet. But to me on a personal level, yes i'm very disappointed to not be out trying to observe the comet later this week. Personally i'm totally gutted. Sorry folks, that's how i feel. the Soho pics were great and exciting. But i was really looking forward to clocking a bright comet with the MkI eyeball.

[fredster]

I should add that ISON has possibly done me a favour though. And that is the even greater disappointment of knowing there is a great comet to be observed but not being able to see it for wall to wall cloud. Which is the forecast for the coming week. So perhaps i'm not that disappointed after all.

[astro mick]

If we did,nt live in an age of modern sattelites,we would.nt have had the comet,s approach.(I agree)

But really disappointed with the final outcome.

At the end of the day Soho picks up loads of these sun grazers all the time,without a mention.But the hype of Ison started last Jan,with no mention it might break up.(Shame)

The media should stop this furore,as this could now turn the slightly interested Public,into total disinterested.

Lets hope for something better in the Future.

I,m not blaming the comet,at that distance from the sun,what could survive.

It should be renamed ICARUS.

Mick.

Or should I say ICARUS 2 as I believe there is an Asteroid of the same name.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

I'm disappointed, as I've never had the chance to see or image a comet. On the other hand I'm not remotely surprised, so my expectations of it have been met, if that makes sense.

It hasn't been a total disappointment - it's been an interesting ride and I've seen some great images, especially Damian Peach's.

[tenbyfifty]

Given that great comets are rare by definition i don't suppose there's any sense in being disappointed

by  so infrequent a phenomenon not actually happening  and the prospect of  a really great comet  
permanently obscured by cloud doesn't bear thinking about it  so at least we've been spared that. 

[Grotemobile]

I think a lot of us were hoping to dust off the scopes &
see this wonder. I remember dragging the wife over to
 Ditchling Beacon, to see comet Hale Bop through a
pair of bins.She stopped moaning when she saw it. 
Will never forget that.

Steve

[PorkyB]

I know it's a big disappointment that ISON hasn't lived up to expectations (or hype, perhaps) but look on the bright side, Lovejoy is looking pretty neat at the moment

Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy by porkyb, on Flickr

[crashtestdummy]

Not disapointed at all as I've not looked for it/seen it.

[Pig]

I am saddened that I haven't been able to see it but not disappointed in the fact Ison got severe beating  It should have known better than trying to mess with the Sun.

[JamesF]

It's a shame that it's broken up, but I can't claim to be disappointed.  Comets are, after all, notoriously unreliable and unpredictable.

James

[stevetynant]

Well I for one am completely gutted.

Was really looking forward to this being the highlight of the observing year - but on the other hand there were a few things I take away from the experience that I never considered before

Astronomy via the internet is awesome- did anyone who tuned in last Friday not get a great sense of community amongst  your fellow enthusiasts whilst watching the  demise and resurrection and endless conjecture last Friday - really exciting.

I remember well Hale Bopp and was waiting for something even more spectacular but never considered Hale Bopp was 30km wide - way bigger than  Ison at under 2km

Ison was only discovered in Sept 2012 - not much more than a year ago - what else is out there heading our way - exciting and scarey all at the same time.

Panstarrs, whom a lot of people were calling Pant stars and itself was only discovered in June 2011 was a brilliant comet and wished I'd taken even more time over her last spring.

I was really looking forward to Isons arrival and still feel a strange sense of loss now having followed its progress for some time - bit like finishing a book you've really enjoyed I guess. Going to be a while before I get this  excited on the astronomy front again I fear.

[brantuk]

I wasn't disappointed at all - on the contrary I has quite cheerful to see the pics of it on it's way to the sun - they were smashing.

I expected all the water in it to evaporate and the rock to be melted as it closed in on the sun. It did strike me the media were hyping it all up - whilst even Nasa had no idea what it was "actually" gonna do. In the end it came out on the other side smaller and dryer.

Not a lot to say about that really apart from - the speculation was a bit daft - and the result was not as spectacular as we all had hoped - no biggie for me.

[kirkster501]

I never even bothered looking for it. A foregone conclusion that it would be cloudy, it always is at a prescribed astronomical event.  Sorry, I am a cycnical git but I have too many years on me now to be anything different!

[peterjtmorris]

I am not too disappointed. I saw it three times through my telescope, speaking as someone who has always found it difficult to observe comets (only saw Panstarrs with great difficulty), once one it was very bright and had a long tail. I also managed to see 2013 Lovejoy comet as a result of getting up to see Ison, so the first time I have seen two comets in one session.

And all the NASA videos were great as well, especially the one of the last shots of Ison and the dusty aftermath.

I never believed the hype and thought the chances of it making pass the sun were pretty low, hence the reason I made the effort to observe several times in the morning before perihelion. After it dimmed significantly before perihelion, I thought its chances of surviving were effectively zero, but one always hopes, it was a sad day when Ison passed away.

[Monty]

I thought it was a great experience. Can't wait for the next one!

[Liquid360]

Anytime you see a tagline "of the century" disappointment will soon follow.

- Nate

Birmingham, AL