I’m flying eastbound tonight. I plan to look for it from the cockpit.
/johnny
It’s already morning here on the left coast.
I agree it’s about time, to start looking for this comet.
Hoping for a really great show this time.
Having been around when Comet Kohoutek was hyped, I presume this “comet of the century” will also be a dud.
Make a ping list we can all discuss on.
My wife and I have been trying to identify it, but I think we’re too far west and worse, we’ve had about 2 weeks now of cloudy conditions.
Thanks!
I have an 8” reflector telescope. I should pull it out...
Any sightings of Uranus?
Check updates on spaceweather.com. So far it’s been less visible than originally predicted. Next big question is whether it even holds together as it rounds the sun.
Is on?
Best link I’ve found.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/232699581.html
ISON is brightening smartly. It has not yet hit perihelion, it is still approaching the sun for the first, and probably only, time. As it passes the sun, it will subjected to enormous heat and substantial tidal forces. It doesn’t have enough self gravity to remain intact, (it’s nearest approach is 0.4 times the Roche Limit), and it’s tensile strength under extreme heating may not be enough to resist the tidal forces, which will be most extreme at perihelion. If the sun merely boils off a mess of material it will be spectacular when it reappears in the early morning around December 1. If it disintegrates more or less completely, it will probably be a fizzle. Only time will tell.
You may be able to spot it in the day time near perihelion without optical aids, if you use a street light or utility pole to block the sun and but keep the comet in your field of view.
After perihelion approach it will more or less retrace its orbit (its hyperbolic orbit is almost a straight line towards and away from the sun near perihelion) so it will again be visible only in the early hours of dawn after perihelion.
Good luck.
Do you know where I can find the proper coordinates for where it should be? I’m interested in the compass point in degrees and the altitude.
I was taught in the military that a way to make rough measure of altitude is to hold your hand out at arm length making the “Just hang loose” sign in Hawaiian (fist with thumb and pinkie extended) and putting the thumb on the horizon and the pinkie would be at approximately 20 degrees. Flipping your hand by putting your thumb up while keeping your pinkie on the same 20 degree mark now adds another 20 degrees and therefore your thumb is at the 40 degree mark. You can keep doing this until you reach directly overhead which is 90 degrees. We used this in the field to judge the height of aircraft.