PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

NASA's solar observing fleet to watch Comet ISON's journey around the sun

2013-11-23
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Susan Hendrix
Susan.m.hendrix@nasa.gov
301-286-7745
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA's solar observing fleet to watch Comet ISON's journey around the sun

It began in the Oort cloud, almost a light year away. It has traveled for over a million years. It has almost reached the star that has pulled it steadily forward for so long. On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 2013, Comet ISON will finally sling shot around the sun. Here its inward journey through the solar system will end -- either because it will break up due to intense heat and gravity of the sun, or because, still intact, it speeds back away, never to return.

Catalogued as C/2012 S1, Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012. Scientists were instantly intrigued, not because spotting it so far away meant it might be very bright and beautiful once it was closer to Earth -- though this may indeed turn out to be the case if it survives its trip around the sun -- but because this is ISON's very first trip into the inner solar system. That means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system's formation, its top layers never having been lost by a trip near the sun. Along Comet ISON's journey, NASA has used a vast fleet of spacecraft and Earth-based telescopes to learn more about this time capsule from when the solar system first formed.

During the last week of its inbound trip, ISON will enter the fields of view of several NASA Heliophysics observatories. Comet ISON will be viewed first by the broad field of view seen by NASA's Heliospheric Imager instrument aboard its Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, Next the comet will be seen in what's called coronagraphs, images that block the brighter view of the sun itself in order to focus on the solar atmosphere, the corona. Such images will come both from STEREO and the joint European Space Agency/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO. Then, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, will view the comet for a few hours during its closest approach to the sun, known as perihelion. The X-Ray Telescope on the JAXA/NASA Hinode mission will also be looking at Comet ISON for about 55 minutes during perihelion.

All of these observatories will have different views. STEREO-B will be the only one that sees the comet transit across the face of the sun. In SDO's view, the comet will appear to travel above the sun, and the SDO instruments will point away from the center of the sun to get a better view for three hours on Nov. 28. In addition to learning more about the comet itself, these observations can make use of the comet as a tracer to show movement in the solar wind and solar atmosphere.

The dates of viewings by these observatories are as follows:

Nov 21-28: STEREO-A Heliospheric Imager

Nov 26-29: STEREO-B coronagraphs

Nov 27-30: SOHO coronagraphs

Nov 28-29: STEREO-A coronagraphs

Nov 28: SDO

Nov 28: Hinode



INFORMATION:

Related Links:

  › NASA's Comet ISON website http://www.nasa.gov/ison/



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study finds link between allergies and increased risk of blood cancers in women

2013-11-23
Study finds link between allergies and increased risk of blood cancers in women Gender may play a role in the association of chronic immune stimulation and development of hematologic cancers SEATTLE – A team of scientists looking into the interplay ...

Paths not taken: Notch signaling pathway keeps immature T cells on the right track

2013-11-23
Paths not taken: Notch signaling pathway keeps immature T cells on the right track Implications for fighting T-cell leukemias PHILADELPHIA - The lab of Avinash Bhandoola, PhD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, has studied ...

Stuck on flu

2013-11-23
Stuck on flu How a sugar-rich mucus barrier traps the virus -- and it gets free to infect Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown for the first time how influenza A viruses snip through a protective mucus net ...

Evidence of jet of high-energy particles from Milky Way's black hole found by astronomers

2013-11-23
Evidence of jet of high-energy particles from Milky Way's black hole found by astronomers For decades, astronomers have sought strong evidence that the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy is producing a jet of ...

UCLA, Emory researchers find a chemical signature for 'fast' form of Parkinson's

2013-11-22
UCLA, Emory researchers find a chemical signature for 'fast' form of Parkinson's Earlier detection may provide more effective disease management The physical decline experienced by Parkinson's disease patients eventually leads to disability and ...

Pre-industrial rise in greenhouse gases had natural and anthropogenic causes

2013-11-22
Pre-industrial rise in greenhouse gases had natural and anthropogenic causes CORVALLIS, Ore. – For years scientists have intensely argued over whether increases of potent methane gas concentrations in the atmosphere – from about 5,000 years ago to the start ...

Preschoolers exposure to television can stall their cognitive development

2013-11-22
Preschoolers exposure to television can stall their cognitive development Children with TVs in the bedroom linked to weak understanding of mental states Washington, DC (November 19, 2013) – Television is a powerful agent of development for children, ...

Patients with diabetes who use mail order pharmacy are less likely to visit ERs

2013-11-22
Patients with diabetes who use mail order pharmacy are less likely to visit ERs OAKLAND, Calif. — Patients with diabetes who received prescribed heart medications by mail were less likely to visit the emergency room than those patients who picked up prescriptions ...

Archaeologists discover largest, oldest wine cellar in Near East

2013-11-22
Archaeologists discover largest, oldest wine cellar in Near East 3,700 year-old store room held 2,000 liters of strong, sweet wine Would you drink wine flavored with mint, honey and a dash of psychotropic resins? Ancient Canaanites did more than 3,000 years ago. Archaeologists ...

Found: 1 of civilization's oldest wine cellars?

2013-11-22
Found: 1 of civilization's oldest wine cellars? Cellar held equivalent of nearly 3,000 bottles of reds and whites; findings to be released Friday WASHINGTON—A team of American and Israeli researchers has unearthed what could be the largest and oldest wine cellar ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Two scientific researchers to receive 2025 Ralph L. Sacco Scholarships for Brain Health

Researchers improve chemical reaction that underpins products from foods to fuels

Texas Tech to develop semiconductor power devices through $6 million grant

Novel genomic screening tool enables precision reverse-engineering of genetic programming in cells

Hot Schrödinger cat states created

How cells repair their power plants

Oxygen is running low in inland waters—and humans are to blame

ACP’s Best Practice Advice addresses use of cannabis, cannabinoids for chronic noncancer pain

Beyond photorespiration: A systematic approach to unlocking enhanced plant productivity

How a small number of mutations can fuel outbreaks of western equine encephalitis virus

Exposure to wildfire smoke linked with worsening mental health conditions

Research uncovers hidden spread of one of the most common hospital-associated infections

Many older adults send their doctors portal messages, but who pays?

Fine particulate matter from 2020 California wildfires and mental health–related emergency department visits

Gender inequity in institutional leadership roles in US academic medical centers

Pancreatic cells ‘remember’ epigenetic precancerous marks without genetic sequence mutations

Rare combination of ovarian tumors found in one patient

AI-driven clinical recommendations may aid physician decision making to improve quality of care

Artificial intelligence has potential to aid physician decisions during virtual urgent care

ACP and Annals of Internal Medicine present breaking scientific news at ACP’s Internal Medicine Meeting 2025

New study reveals polymers with flawed fillers boost heat transfer in plastics

Signs identified that precede sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in young people

Discovery of bacteria's defence against viruses becomes a piece of the puzzle against resistance

Pre-eclampsia is associated with earlier onset and higher incidence of cardiovascular risk factors

Warwick astronomers discover doomed pair of spiralling stars on our cosmic doorstep

Soil conditions significantly increase rainfall in world’s megastorm hotspots

NK cells complexed with bispecific antibody yield high response rates in patients with lymphoma

Planetary health diet and mediterranean diet associated with similar survival and sustainability benefits

Singapore launches national standard to validate antimicrobial disinfectant products

Molecular stool test could improve detection of tuberculosis in adults with HIV

[Press-News.org] NASA's solar observing fleet to watch Comet ISON's journey around the sun