Optics 32-inch Schulman Telescope (RCOS)
Camera SBIG STX16803 CCD Camera
Filters Astrodon Gen II
Dates October 8th 2013
Location Mount Lemmon SkyCenter
Exposure RGB = 18:18:16 minutes
Acquisition Astronomer Control Panel (ACP), Maxim DL/CCD (Cyanogen), FlatMan XL (Alnitak)
Processing CCDStack v2 (CCDWare), Photoshop CS5 (Adobe), PixInsight
Credit Line & Copyright Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona
By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News
It's not at all clear whether Comet ISON will become "the comet of the century," as skywatchers hoped a year ago, but it's certainly become a beautiful sight for photographers with the right kind of telescope.
Adam Block captured a stunner on Tuesday morning, just before sunrise, using the 0.8-meter Schulman Telescope at the University of Arizona's SkyCenter atop Mount Lemmon. Block's picture reveals ISON's greenish coma, trailed by a long, straight tail. The comet is zooming within the orbit of Mars, heading toward a crucial rendezvous with the sun on Nov. 28.
"I am certain more images of this will be coming out shortly as it increases in brightness during its dive toward the sun," Block wrote in an email. "Here is hoping it survives that rendezvous and emerges as something spectacular on the other side! Although its future is questionable ... being prepared is always a sure thing to take advantage of quickly changing conditions."
Austrian astrophotographer Michael Jäger also captured a green-tinted glimpse of the comet.
"ISON's green color comes from the gases surrounding its icy nucleus," SpaceWeather.com's Tony Phillips wrote. "Jets spewing from the comet's core probably contain cyanogen (CN: a poisonous gas found in many comets) and diatomic carbon (C2). Both substances glow green when illuminated by sunlight in the near-vacuum of space."
The comet is still too dim to see with the naked eye, but if you have the right kind of telescope, Phillips says you can see it rising alongside Mars in the eastern sky, just before dawn. SpaceWeather.com provides the coordinates and additional viewing suggestions.
Some astronomers say there's a good chance that ISON will fizzle out. But if it doesn't break apart and survives its 724,000-mile (1.16 million-kilometer) solar encounter, it just might meet Block's expectations. Calling it the comet of the century is probably too presumptuous — but "comet of the year"? Maybe. Stay tuned.
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