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."
Eulogy (Score:1)
It is a government Konspiracy! (Score:1, Funny)
"Who killed Comet Ison?" — an upcoming documentary by Michael Moore.
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.
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I use a microscope for dealing with my distant relatives.
Re:This is why the public stopped giving a fuck... (Score:4, Informative)
I don't know where you camp in you urban back yard or something? I've seen meteor showers first hand and they do happen, often when the astronomers predict them. But I also go to places which are far from urban lights to see them and you have to understand what a meteor shower looks like. It's not hundreds of shooting stars like a fireworks display but one every so often. Sometimes it takes a bit of trying to see them because you have to wait for your night vision to return, and then it can take time to actually observe much.
Ah, the memories of my childhood out on the farm. We would go out in the field, lay on our back and watch such events sometimes. Good times..
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.
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I've been out camping and seen several shooting stars in a matter of minutes. That being said, a shooting star is just that, a tiny pin prick of light flying across the sky in less than a second, it's not anything spectacular to look at (except of course, if you know what it is and what it means). I have, however, seen a single fireball meteor, which as far as I understand is a very rare experience. It was bright enough to light up the ground for a couple seconds, like someone igniting some lighter fluid
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Rather than lash out at a troll, I'd suggest you get your vision checked specifically for nigh-vision. You might be one of a non-trivial set of people who have a significant congenital night-vision deficiency. In modern society, it's easy to not notice, as our urban and suburban environments have significant light pollution and modern man doesn't go into the dark. Alternatively, perhaps you haven't escaped the light pollution adequately to be able to see them, or live somewhere that's so humid that it's har
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You're 52 years old, with enough of an interest in astronomy to have a telescope, and you couldn't manage to pick Hale-Bopp out of the night sky? The damn thing was the size of a full moon in rural light conditions. It was by far the brightest thing in the sky other than the moon.
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Recent data suggests [earthsky.org] there are between 5000 and 6000 stars visible to the naked eye in both hemispheres, so any one person could only see at most about 2500-3000 at a time, and some of those would be obscured by haze at the horizon.
Nevertheless, a heck of a lot more than 50.
Second most spectacular Comet Death (Score:5, Informative)
First, of course was Shoemaker-Levy 9.
And we're not counting people who don tracksuits, Nikes and scarf deadly pudding whenever they see a big comet scooting by.
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This seems to be a standard practice. Detect a new comet, predict that it will be the most spectacular viewing during our lifetimes, then whistle innocently when no one actually sees it.
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.
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Your comment will go over like a snowball in hell.
Icarus (Score:5, Funny)
I think Icarus had the same problem.
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It was aliens (Score:1)
http://memes.onlinememegenerat... [onlinememegenerator.com]
meh (Score:1)
You know what they say: easy comet, easy go
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LOL
Yea, I think you really cleaned up on that.....
Just remember Jo, "Nothing can hold a can to Comet!"
batting average (Score:1)
Not sure why anyone was surprised (Score:4, Insightful)
All the coverage I saw (from astronomy writers, NASA, etc.) said there was definitely a chance of it burning up.
If the non-science media hyped it up somewhat, well they do that for everything. Yes, I a (and many others watched for ISON). Yes, we were disappointed, but no one should have been surprised.
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I think witnessing a comet burn off its remaining supply of water and go dark could hardly be called disappointing.
T'was a beautiful comet... (Score:3)
No wonder you can't see it... (Score:2)
... its coming right at us!!!!!
ISON didn't "vanish", and DID emerge (Score:1)
It states, "But as astronomers watched on the evening of 28 November, the brightly flaring Ison moved behind the Sun but never emerged."
That is wrong. ISON DID in fact emerge. Just not as a cohesive comet. What emerged was a "fan" of dust and debris.
It's not like ISON simply disappeared with no trace and no one saw it.
Very not strange indeed (Score:1)