[This page will be updated when new information becomes available. Stay tuned.]
NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft has acquired its first images of comet C/2012 S1 (now known as comet ISON). The spacecraft’s Medium-Resolution Imager took the images over a 36-hour period on Jan. 17 and 18 from a distance of 493 million miles (793 million kilometers). Comet ISON may put on quite a show as it passes through the inner solar system this fall, NASA said in a press statement on Tuesday.
The images of ISON from Deep Impact will be used to define the comet's rotation rate. A movie of comet ISON was generated from initial data acquired during this campaign (see video below and left). Preliminary results indicate that although the comet is still in the outer solar system, more than 474 million miles (763 million kilometers) from the sun, it is already active. As of Jan. 18, the tail extending from ISON's nucleus was already more than 40,000 miles (64,400 kilometers) long.
ISON was discovered on Sept. 21 by two Russian astronomers using the International Scientific Optical Network's 16-inch (40-centimeter) telescope near Kislovodsk. NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office, based at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has plotted its orbit and determined that the comet is more than likely making it first-ever sweep through the inner solar system.
“ISON will not be a threat to Earth,” NASA said, “getting no closer to the planet than about 40 million miles on Dec. 26.” But stargazers will have an opportunity to view the comet's head and tail before and after its closest approach to the sun -- if the comet doesn't fade early or break up before reaching the sun.
Schedule of Events
- Nov. 28-29 - ISON is 1.1 million miles from the Sun.
- Dec. 26 - ISON is about 40 million miles from Earth.
[This page will be updated when new information becomes available. Stay tuned.]
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