Comet ISON’S Last Gasp

Have you been hearing about Comet ISON on the news lately? How can you track what may be the comet of the century? Here is a guide from The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada including resource links to help you learn more and keep you up-to-date about Comet ISON.

Discovery:

Amateur astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok spotted the comet in photographs taken by an ISON telescope in September 2012. The comet appeared unusually bright relative to its distance indicating that its nucleus may be between 1km and 10km across.

What has been the buzz in the astronomical community for the past year is now in the home stretch. Discovered on Sept 21, 2012, Comet ISON was first though to be a daytime comet with an estimated magnitude -16, when it rounds the Sun at a very close distance on Nov 28. But recent observations now paint a slightly different picture. All comets are a bit of a mystery and seems to have a mind of their own - ISON is no different.

The RASC astrosketcher community is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2013 Summer Solstice to Autumn Equinox Contest is Gerry Smerchanski of the Winnipeg Centre! Gerry's award winning work is a depiction of the lunar crater Gassendi in all its stark glory. It can be found, along with the other quality entries, here. We wish to extend out congratulations to Gerry, and our thanks to all who participated.