The Strange Death of Comet Ison 49
KentuckyFC (1144503) writes "Last year, astronomers announced that a small ball of ice and rock heading towards the inner Solar System could turn out to be the most eye-catching comet in living memory. They calculated that Comet Ison's orbit would take it behind the Sun but that it would then head towards Earth where it would put on a spectacular display of heavenly fireworks. Sure enough, Ison brightened dramatically as it headed Sunwards. But as astronomers watched on the evening of 28 November, the brightly flaring Ison moved behind the Sun but never emerged. The comet simply disappeared. Now a new analysis of the death of Ison suggests that the comet was doomed long before it reached the Sun. Images from several Sun-observing spacecraft that had a unique view of events, indicate that Ison exhausted its supply of water and other ice in the final flare-ups as it approached the Sun. The new study shows that all that was left in its last hours were a few hundred thousands pebbles glowing brightly as they vaporized in the Sun's heat. In fact, Comet Ison died in full view of the watching hordes of astronomers on Earth who did not realize what they were watching at the time."
It is a government Konspiracy! (Score:1, Funny)
"Who killed Comet Ison?" — an upcoming documentary by Michael Moore.
Space-age Science (Score:5, Funny)
Big ball of ice surprisingly vanished behind big ball of fire, analysis to follow.
Yup, we've come a long way in our understanding of the universe.
Icarus (Score:5, Funny)
I think Icarus had the same problem.
Re:This is why the public stopped giving a fuck... (Score:5, Funny)
Question for you... are you looking at the sky at night, or during the day?
Re:This is why the public stopped giving a f (Score:5, Funny)
what's a "telecope?"
It's a device for accepting something and dealing with it from a distance, obviously.
I've spent many hours with a telecope looking for comets, and again, they lied.
Clearly, this poster has been so badly affected by astronomers' lies that he has now turned to calling his therapist whenever he feels the need to look at the sky. It's a coping mechanism, executed remotely: a telecope.
Re:This is why the public stopped giving a f (Score:5, Funny)
I use a telecope for dealing with relatives. I could never handle them up close.
Re:This is why the public stopped giving a fuck... (Score:5, Funny)
I know this for fact: when younger, I went out on the roof and watched a beautiful meteor shower (persieds believe was 'named')...
...but then they announced budget cuts to NASA. There was less money in astronomy. Shuttles started getting issues launching to cover up this reduced budget. During every subsequent 'meteor shower' that was scheduled... the skies were overcast all night, and the sound of planes could be heard infrequently.
The truth couldn't be more obvious: NASA could no longer afford to dump rocks to fake the showers anymore. The showers were scheduled though, even if the money for the special effects was lacking. Instead, they just seeded the clouds to force poor visibility so the myth of the meteor shower could continue onwards. Even as I type this now, the weather forecast gives days of sunny weather, but overcast or rainy evenings. How much longer must this go on? We must either return NASA's budget back to its Hollywood Effects heyday, or admit to ourselves... space is just really really empty, and 'space stuff' is just a lie.