Comet of the century?

Out beyond Mars, a faint speck of light is speeding through the black of space towards our sun. With just out eyes, it does not look like much more than a faint star, but through a big telescope, we could make out a comet. It has been named ISON after the Russian telescope that discovered it.

Track ISON's progress with this site's java applet: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=ISON;orb=1;cov=0;log=0;cad=0#orb

So what is a comet? A comet is a space rock that, when it passes by the sun, sometimes grows a colorful tail. This tail come from the ice and dust the comet managed to pick up when it was forming, making it different than the other common space rock, asteroids. When the comet gets close to the sun, the ice and dust melt making a tiny atmosphere around the comet. Comets are commonly nicknamed “dirty snowballs”.

This particular comet is special because of its size and the direction or orbit it is traveling. Around Nov. 28^th this year, it will fly through our sun’s atmosphere, a little more than one million kilometers from the star’s surface. If it survives, which is a big IF, it could emerge glowing as brightly as the Moon, briefly visible near the sun in broad daylight. The comet's dusty tail stretching into the night sky could create a worldwide sensation. A dirty snowball named Lovejoy, which was half as big as ISON, managed to make it through the sun’s atmosphere in 2011 so there is hope.

Multiple comet discoverer David Levy, who was on the team to spot Shoemaker-Levy 9 (a comet that collided with Jupiter in the 90s), offered up this bit of advice concerning comets: "Comets are like cats; they have tails, and they do precisely what they want."

 Comet C/2006 P1(McNaught) taken from Victoria, Australia 2007

There are a lot of other facts about comets that are incredibly interesting. If you would like to find out more about comets, I suggest starting with this site: http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/asteroids-comets-article/