NASA Reports A Comet Brighter Than The Moon Is Heading To Earth
According to the team at NASA, Comet Ison, a chunk of ice and rock that has likely broken off of the Oort cloud, is heading our way. By October it should come near Mars and then make its way through our sky.
“Comet Ison could draw millions out into the dark to witness what could be the brightest comet seen in many generations – brighter even than the full Moon,” wrote astronomer David Whitehouse.
“Comet Elenin springs to mind as a recent example, but there are more famous examples of comets that got the astronomy community seriously worked up, only to fizzle,” said Karl Battams of the Sungrazer Comet Project.
“This is quite possibly a ‘new’ comet coming in from the Oort cloud, meaning this could be its first-ever encounter with the Sun.
If so, with all those icy volatiles intact and never having been truly stressed (thermally and gravitationally), the comet could well disrupt and dissipate weeks or months before reaching the sun.”
Paul Hudson | Elite.
