Comet Ison C/2012_S1 animation November 9 2013
C/2012 S1, also known as
Comet ISON or Comet Nevski–Novichonok, is a
sungrazing comet discovered on 21 September 2012 by Vitali Nevski (Виталий Невский,
Vitebsk,
Belarus) and Artyom Novichonok (
Артём Новичонок,
Kondopoga,
Russia).
[5] The discovery was made using the 0.4-meter (16 in)
reflector of the
International Scientific Optical Network near
Kislovodsk, Russia and the automated asteroid-discovery program CoLiTec.
[2][6] Precovery images by the
Mount Lemmon Survey from 28 December 2011 and by
Pan-STARRS from 28 January 2012 were quickly located.
[7] Follow-up observations were made on 22 September by a team from Remanzacco Observatory in Italy using the
iTelescope network.
[2][8] The discovery was announced by the
Minor Planet Center on 24 September.
[7] Observations by
SWIFT suggest that C/2012 S1's
nucleus is around 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) in diameter.
[9]
C/2012 S1 will come to
perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 28 November 2013 at a distance of 0.0124
AU (1,860,000
km; 1,150,000
mi) from the center point of the Sun.
[3] Accounting for the
solar radius of 695,500 km (432,200 mi), C/2012 S1 will pass approximately 1,165,000 km (724,000 mi) above the Sun's surface.
[10] Its
trajectory appears hyperbolic, which suggests that it is a dynamically new comet coming freshly from the
Oort cloud.
[11][12]On its closest approach, C/2012 S1 passed about 0.07248 AU (10,843,000 km; 6,737,000 mi) from Mars on 1 October 2013, and it will pass about 0.4292 AU (64,210,000 km; 39,900,000 mi) from Earth on 26 December 2013.
[13]
Shortly after its discovery, similarities between the
orbital elements of C/2012 S1 and the
Great Comet of 1680 led to speculation that there might be a connection between them.
[14] However, further observations of ISON showed that the two comets are not related.
[15]
Earth will pass near the orbit of C/2012 S1 on 14–15 January 2014, well after the comet has passed, at which time micron-sized dust particles blown by the Sun's radiation may cause a
meteor shower or
noctilucent clouds.
[16][17]However, both events are unlikely. Because Earth only passes near C/2012 S1's orbit, not actually through the tail, the chances that a meteor shower will occur are slim.
[18] In addition, meteor showers from long period comets that make just one pass into the inner solar system are very rare, if ever recorded.
[19] The possibility that small particles left behind on the orbital path—almost one hundred days after the nucleus has passed—could form noctilucent clouds is also slim. No such events are known to have taken place in the past under similar circumstances.
[19]
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Instruments and exposure data:
12*3min bin1x1
W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener
Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro
FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
W.O ZS80 ED
SBIG ST10XME CFW9
Meade DSI
Filters: Luminance Astrodon
