Community Corner

Will Comet ISON Survive Close Call with Sun, Be Visible Over Maryland?

Comet ISON will make one pass around the Sun before leaving our solar system forever. If it survives the trip around the sun, it'll light up the December night sky.

If things break right, we may be in for a spectacular show in the skies as the holidays approach.

Comet ISON, discovered earlier this year, will attempt to pass around the Sun on Thanksgiving day. If it survives that—and that's a big if, considering how close it's going to get to our closest star—the comet will light up the night sky for weeks to come.

Its tail may get ripped off by a cloud of solar particles, or the sun’s brutal radiation and pressure may demolish it completely, reports the Washington Post. But if ISON makes it out alive, stargazers say, it could provide a breathtaking show visible to the naked eye and possibly live up to the name “Comet of the Century,” as some astronomers have dubbed it.

“On Friday, we’ll all be delighted to see its beautiful face as it then comes around the sun,” said Jim Green, director of NASA’s planetary science division. “Then between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it will fly over the North Pole — a very nice holiday comet.”

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An expert told the Washington Post that by Wednesday, Nov. 27, the comet is lost in the sun’s glare as it approaches perihelion.Between Nov. 27 and Nov. 30, don’t try to find the comet.  The sun’s glare hides it. Do not use binoculars or a telescope to find – otherwise, you will be in danger of becoming permanently blinded. Never look at the sun through binoculars or a telescope.

Where should you look to see the comet once (and if) it passes around the Sun?

According to NASA: "If Comet ISON survives its trip around the sun, there’s a good chance that it will be incredibly bright and easily visible with the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere. In early December, it will be seen in the morning, low on the horizon to the east-southeast. In late December and early January, it will be visible all night long."

Up until this point, the comet's been visible in the pre-dawn hour, very close to the horizon, NASA says. Often times, light from the rising sun made it invisible to the naked eye. Should ISON make it around the sun, we'll get a much better view of it as it leaves our solar system.

And when it's gone, it's gone forever the agency says. Unlike Halley's comet, ISON is on a parabolic trajectory, and is moving fast enough that it can escape the gravitational pull of the Sun. When it leaves our solar system, there's no force strong enough to drag it back. So this isn't a once-in-a-lifetime event; it's a one-in-a-universe event.

People all over Earth will be able to see it, but it’ll be best seen from the Northern Hemisphere as 2013 draws to a close according to earthsky.orgDecember finder charts for Comet ISON here.

In Maryland this event will celebrate the comet:

Comet ISON Party
Date: Friday, Dec. 6
Time: 5-7am
Location: Baltimore Woods Nature Center Phone: (315) 673-1350 Email: info@baltimorewoods.org 
If it survives without breaking up, it may be a spectacular object in the pre-dawn sky, but there's no way to predict for sure until it happens. Come out early in the morning to this special program and take a look at Comet ISON. Cost: $5 for members, $15 for families; $8 for nonmembers, $25 for families. 

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