Orbital diagram and current position of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON). The comet is at approx. magnitude 18 and located about 6.25 AU from the Sun. Could this brighten into one of the brightest comets ever? It’s possible. It is possible that this comet could develop a spectacular tail or briefly approach the brightness of the full Moon toward the end of 2013. Alternatively, the comet could break up when it gets closer to the Sun. The comet was discovered by Russian scientists Vitali Nevski (Belarus) and Artyom Novichonok (Russia). It is currently approaching the Sun from between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. Comet ISON appears on course to achieve sungrazer status as it passes within a solar diameter of Sun’s surface in November 2013. Whatever survives will then pass nearest the Earth in late December 2013. Astronomers around the world will be closely tracking this large snowball to better understand its nature and how it might evolve during the next 15 months.