ISON image from this morning (9/6/13)

I am glad Dr Astro is posting this. Obviously this comet is way out there right now but it is moving fast and the pictures over the coming week will be great to see.

This comet is suppose to be huge in the night sky as it gets closer so with the help of Dr Astro we should be able to get a heads up on what might be inside it's coma.

I believe this is going to be bright in our sky so every human on earth can see it.

I believe it is a sign from God that ominous events are about to take place here on earth. Although it could possibly cause electrical failures with our electrical grid and possible satellite failures, I don't think it will be of any consequence.

I believe the Word of God tells us the Anti Christ will cause all to take a mark in order to buy or sell. This to me means that we will have electricity at that time.

However, I do think we have a brown dwarf or some planetary body coming in to our solar system that at some point will cause a meteor to hit the earth causing great damage. The Bible says so.

Keep watch

Thanks you Dr Astro.

pin....5*

How rapidly are you expecting changes in visibility?

Why cant we point Hubble on it again? Is there any hope of having another high powered telescope to image ISON? Or are we supposed to wait until its overhead?

Quoting yourself won't make me shut up.

Hubble can't point anywhere near the sun. For this reason it can never even observe the planet mercury.

I don't expect rapid changes until it gets close to the sun. Until then it'll be gradual.

I do believe you should make an effort to clean the lens this will enable clearer photographs...

Thanks Dr.A.This is exciting:)

Astro, is it possible that SOHO, or some other of this kind of sat get some good images on ISON? I mean, better than the ones we get here on earth?

Uh no. That is what flat field calibration frames are for. Now in all fairness my flat field calibration wasn't perfect, this causes the appearance of the "donut" shapes in the image, I'll be sure to try to work on that in the future...

STEREO will get an awesome view as it rounds the sun.
[link to stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov]
SOHO will too, but considering its age its really more of a secondary system imho.

Well you respond to others..... lol

Cool! Thanks!

Hey at least it's something from someone other than NASA.

The really cool thing would be to find a viewing map that begins when it's visible to the naked eye for the lay-folk out here. Something like if I punch in my location, it will show me where to look in the sky, and the best date & time to go look. But I haven't been able to find something like that.

Good to know. Look forward to seein' more images from ya as it approaches. Thanks for sharing.

Very nice Astro.
Here's another since TPTB are hiding ISON from the woowoos:
[link to britastro.org]

********************************

A few dates for ISON:

1 au= 149,597,870.7 km = 92,955,807.3 mi

Close approaches:
-- Oct 01 2013 Close approach to Mars @ 0.0715 au
-- Dec 26 2013 Close approach to Earth @ 0.4292 au
For comparison, Venus (Vebus for IDW) makes its closest approach to Earth @ 0.2741 au, a lot closer than ISON.

ISON crosses Earth's orbit:
-- Nov 01 2013 @ r = 0.983913236081 au and 3,462,921 km above the ecliptic;
which is 0.983641 au along the ecliptic (for the maths impaired).
--Earth crosses this same point on Jan 15 2014 and will be 3,462,921 km below the path of ISON.

ISON crosses the ecliptic:
-- Nov 9 2014 @ r = 0.788270 au
ISON will be crossing from North to South...
" But, but, but... It's not coming from the south!!!!!!!!!!!! It's coming from the north!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! Chartreuse kachinkachinka"

Perihelion :
-- Nov 28 2013

Very nice image. C14 drool. Now that I know I can get it I'll probably polar align next time and go after it with longer exposures.

lulz!

I happen to know where a Celestron CGE Pro 1400 might be found just laying around... kinda'... sorta'...

I believe you do as well...

Have fun.


R.

Yeah, really.
Thank you Dr. Astro. It's the perfect time to start watching this comet's approach. It's exciting! I'll definitely be checking back for updates.
I'm curious about what you think will happen. Break up, or not break up? That is the question.

hey astro, off topic but can you take me back to my childhood by reminding me the name of the game your avatar represents, i used to play it on my zx spectrum as a kid :) and thanks for the pics :)

Thanks

Unless you have a very large telescope and dark skies, that is what Ison looks like right now, just a faint smudge. It isn't a smudge on the lens though, such a thing would not even be in focus. It is Ison, and it is exactly where it should have been. Sorry to disappoint you.

I don't even know, I just Photoshopped a depiction of Laika, the first animal in space, that I found online.

mee too !

You made my day Doc ! Keep them coming.

Too bad on pausing the animation, but it doesn't appear to be anywhere near the sun view angle. According to that it should rise hours before sunrise. What am I missing.?

if that's on it way to earth, it won't be hitting us any time soon.

Doom off..