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 The Hubble Space Telescope captured this view of Comet ISON, C/2012 S1 (ISON), on May 8, 2013 as it streaked between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars at a speed of about 48,000 mph.Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) |
LAUREL, Md. — All eyes on the sky that can do so will be pointing toward Comet ISON soon, as a massive international observing campaign gets underway to watch what could become the "comet of the century," scientists say.
Comet ISON was discovered in September 2012, and is due to swoop in close to the sun in November. When it does, it may become as bright as the full moon, visible to the naked eye even in daylight. Or, it may not.
What will happen to Comet ISON is an open question to scientists, who hope to learn more about what causes certain comets to flare brightlyand others to fizzle out and evaporate under the sun's radiation. [Photos of Comet ISON: A Potentially Great Comet]
http://www.space.com/22176-comet-ison-skywatching-august.html