By STEVE ELWART, WND – “Later this year, Comet ISON will pass through the asteroid belt, enter the Inner Solar System and sidestep Mars on its way past Earth, putting on what scientists expect will be a spectacular heavenly show that is not to be missed.
Astronomers are calling it the ‘comet of the century.’
Comets offer one of the most spectacular celestial scenes the unaided human eye can see. By November or December, ISON is expected to be brighter than a full moon. Some believe it will be up to 15 times brighter.
While ISON may prove to be brighter than any other comet of the last century, this trip may also be its swan song, as it is projected to end its flight in a fiery death in the sun.
Comets are made of several parts. The core, or nucleus, is a solid snowball of dust and ice. As the comet nears the sun, the nucleus heats up, releasing the mixture of gas, called the coma, and dust, which forms the tail. There is also a plasma ion tail, which can be several hundred million miles long.
Occasionally, a comet is dislodged from its orbit and makes its way toward Earth.
Comet ISON, currently in the vicinity of Jupiter, was discovered by two Russian amateur astronomers, Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok, using a 16-inch International Scientific Optical Network telescope in Vitebsk, Belarus. The comet possibly came from the Kuiper Belt, a region of icy small bodies beyond Neptune.
ISON, for the moment, is a faint object, visible only in sophisticated telescopes, but that will change in the next few months.
British astronomer David Whitehouse, in the London Independent, reports that by the end of summer, it will become visible in small telescopes and binoculars.
By October, the comet will pass close to Mars, and it will start to become exciting. The surface of the comet will begin to shift as it nears the sun. As it continues to warm, the surface will crack, releasing small puffs of gas from its core, forming the comet’s tail. Slowly at first, but with increasing energy, the gas and dust will reflect even more of the sun’s light
By autumn, the view should be remarkable.
Astronomers have calculated that the comet will not impact Earth, however, it will pass less than 800,000 miles away from Earth, making it easily visible.
Like the moon, comets do not shine on their own. They reflect only about 4 percent of the sun’s rays, about the same luminescence as a lump of coal. So while the sun’s reflection makes comets look brilliantly white from Earth, they are black on the surface.
The comet will begin brightening once it comes within Jupiter’s orbit, as the sun’s heat begins boiling the ice locked within, converting it directly into a gas.
The reaction to ISON is likely to recall the excitement of Comet Hale-Bopp, which sailed past the Earth in 1997, appearing as a static smear in the skies across the Northern Hemisphere.
ISON is also set to outshine ‘the greatest comet of the last century’ – Comet McNaught, which shone brighter than Venus as it passed above the Southern Hemisphere in 1965.
There are reports Comet ISON’s path resembles that of the Great Comet of 1680, which is also called Kirch’s Comet or Newton’s Comet. That comet’s tail was reportedly visible during the day.
Comets are known as ‘dirty snowballs,’ although technically a better definition would be ‘snowy dirtballs,’ as they are generally rocky at the surface, with chemical-laden ice inside.
Luke 21:10-11, 27, “Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven… And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.’”
Source:
http://midnightwatcher.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/comet-of-the-century-spectacular-heavenly-show-expected-this-year/#more-17946
- Disasters - Economy Collapse - Mobs, Etc.
Posts
