A Glitter in the Night


                I remember a night, long ago, when I stood at the end of my Grandpa’s crunchy, gravelly farmyard driveway, my father beside me. We looked up at the night sky. That deep in the dark country night, the sky was a breath-taking, glittering sight, framed by the silhouette of the surrounding trees.

                All was silent.

                Then “There it is!” whispered my father, pointing to the sky.

                And there, amongst the stars, a shimmering, silver streak crossed the black night sky.

                Halley’s Comet!

                What a beautiful and unforgettable sight! But with it 76 year cycle, it’ll be some time before Halley sails over anyone’s farm again.

                The good news is we may not have to wait quite that long to indulge in such a sight again. In December and January, another comet with the unusual name of ISON, is set to dance across the sky over our Earth! And the scientists say it’s going to be an especially bright and beautiful vision.

                Scientists are working hard to get as many different views and readings as possible. And so they should! Not just because it’s to be a spectacular sight, but because ISON is a very special comet that may come bearing once-in-a-lifetime news.

                ISON, named for the equipment used to discover it in September 2012, was born from the far off Oort cloud. This is big collection of icy objects that, according to scientists, orbits the sun somewhere beyond Pluto. Every once in awhile, a chunk of ice escapes and begins hurtling toward the inner solar system. This is where comets come from. This cloud is just about as old as our solar system, leading scientists to believe it must contain materials from that ancient beginning. As ISON is a brand new comet (a mere 10,000 years old!), and this is its maiden voyage, it’s surface will still contain clean and undisturbed materials from the solar system’s earliest days, providing a very unique opportunity to learn something about how our system got here in the first place!

                Here are some interesting facts about our upcoming visitor.

·         It’s shedding about 112,00 pounds of dust, and 130 pounds of water every minute.

·         The nucleus is only 3 to 4 miles across, but the head of the comet in total comes to about 3100 miles across.

·         The tail is around 57,000 miles long.

       Comet ISON is what they call a ‘sun-grazer’ comet. Its orbit will take very close to the sun that it will be, for a time, in mortal danger. It will get close enough that it will be in danger of melting, breaking up or losing its tail.

         But, provided ISON survives it’s dangerous voyage, make sure to watch the sky. It will be close enough to be seen with the naked eye starting from the beginning of December. Early in the month it will be visible near the horizon in the early morning hours. Then, in late December and early January, it will be visible all night long. It’s closest approach to earth, and therefore potentially the best view we’ll have, is supposed to take place on December 26th.

          Keep your camera handy, and happy sky gazing!

       

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