Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
- cronus
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Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25001732
Comet Ison brightens, but no fireworks so far
Ison has been brightening over the last two weeks, letting rip two giant outbursts of gas and dust.
But it has not yet produced the spectacular sky show some had predicted.
The comet is currently hurtling towards the Sun and is set for its closest approach on 28 November.
Ison might not survive its encounter with the Sun, but if it does, it could yet delight stargazers with a dazzling display.
A BBC Horizon special about the comet will be screened on Saturday.
A photo taken by astrophotographer Damian Peach on 15 November showed many separate streams inside the dusty tail.
(continued)
Comet Ison brightens, but no fireworks so far
Ison has been brightening over the last two weeks, letting rip two giant outbursts of gas and dust.
But it has not yet produced the spectacular sky show some had predicted.
The comet is currently hurtling towards the Sun and is set for its closest approach on 28 November.
Ison might not survive its encounter with the Sun, but if it does, it could yet delight stargazers with a dazzling display.
A BBC Horizon special about the comet will be screened on Saturday.
A photo taken by astrophotographer Damian Peach on 15 November showed many separate streams inside the dusty tail.
(continued)
What will the world be like after its ruler is removed?
- Clinton Huxley
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Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
This is the one with the spaceship hiding behind it
"I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled"
AND MERRY XMAS TO ONE AND All!
http://25kv.co.uk/date_counter.php?date ... 20counting!!![/img-sig]
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled"
AND MERRY XMAS TO ONE AND All!
- cronus
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Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
No, this is part of the atmosphere of a planet that got blasted in the original supernova that gave rise to the Sun and Earth. Been waiting a long time in that ice.Clinton Huxley wrote:This is the one with the spaceship hiding behind it

What will the world be like after its ruler is removed?
Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
The old ones they come. The stars are almost right
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Outside the ordered universe is that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes.
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- Clinton Huxley
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Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
Interview on the Today programme today about this. About 1 minute long and rather flippant. Followed by 10 minutes on some fashion designer who apparently wore a lot of hats.
"I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled"
AND MERRY XMAS TO ONE AND All!
http://25kv.co.uk/date_counter.php?date ... 20counting!!![/img-sig]
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled"
AND MERRY XMAS TO ONE AND All!
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Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
Lots of hats might be required if the comet breaks up, and the debris hits the Earth's atmosphere.Clinton Huxley wrote:Interview on the Today programme today about this. About 1 minute long and rather flippant. Followed by 10 minutes on some fashion designer who apparently wore a lot of hats.

I call bullshit - Alfred E Einstein
BArF−4
BArF−4
- Clinton Huxley
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Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
Well, so long as they are fashionable hats. Would hate to be killed wearing something plebeian.rainbow wrote:Lots of hats might be required if the comet breaks up, and the debris hits the Earth's atmosphere.Clinton Huxley wrote:Interview on the Today programme today about this. About 1 minute long and rather flippant. Followed by 10 minutes on some fashion designer who apparently wore a lot of hats.
"I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled"
AND MERRY XMAS TO ONE AND All!
http://25kv.co.uk/date_counter.php?date ... 20counting!!![/img-sig]
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled"
AND MERRY XMAS TO ONE AND All!
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Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
Once I finish the paper I'm writing (due Dec. 2) I'm going go try to head over to the east coast and take some photos of ISON and the other comets, if they're still visible by then. Then again, it'll be cold as hell in the wee hours, so maybe I'll just stay home and look at other photos made with bigger telescopes and by people who know what they're doing.
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken
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Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
"Everybody knows the plague is coming ..." 

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- JimC
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Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
Who knows what is lurking in the cold, dark regions of the Oort Cloud?
Watching, waiting...
Watching, waiting...
Nurse, where the fuck's my cardigan?
And my gin!
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Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
Is that what they do now? God, I'm so behind the times.Clinton Huxley wrote:Interview on the Today programme today about this. About 1 minute long and rather flippant. Followed by 10 minutes on some fashion designer who apparently wore a lot of hats.
But I'm going to stick to wearing just one, or none. I'm too old to change.
While there is a market for shit, there will be assholes to supply it.
Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
It's too early to know
A poster at JREF asked if there was a history of comets brightening as they grazed the sun.....that would be a resounding yes....
I was simply astounded ....and three nights of it ....no picture can capture just how enormous that tail was....

wiki image
this is perhaps the closest to what I actually saw over the ocean ( wiki image )

so yeah - when it rounds the sun THEN you can be thrilled or disappointed.....McNaught was a once in a lifetime - right time and place - we were staying right on the water and just had to walk to the beach.
Keeping my fingers crossed for another realllly big show...
Ison special on PBS Is really good.
A poster at JREF asked if there was a history of comets brightening as they grazed the sun.....that would be a resounding yes....
and this is what I saw on the edge of the Atlantic in Hermanus SAComet McNaught, 2007 —Discovered in August 2006 by astronomer Robert McNaught at Australia's Siding Spring Observatory, this comet evolved into a brilliant object as it swept past the sun on Jan. 12, 2007 at a distance of just 15.9 million miles (25.6 million km). According to reports received from a worldwide audience at the International Comet Quarterly, it appears that the comet reached peak brightness on Sunday, Jan. 14 at around 12 hours UT (7:00 a.m. EST, or 1200 GMT). At that time, the comet was shining at magnitude 5.1.
Some observers, such as Steve O'Meara, located at Volcano, Hawaii, observed McNaught in daylight and estimated a magnitude as high as -6, noting, "The comet appeared much brighter than Venus!"
After passing the sun, Comet McNaught developed a stupendously large, fan-shaped tail somewhat reminiscent of the Great Comet of 1744. Unfortunately for Northern Hemisphere observers, the best views of Comet McNaught were mainly from south of the equator.
I was simply astounded ....and three nights of it ....no picture can capture just how enormous that tail was....

wiki image
this is perhaps the closest to what I actually saw over the ocean ( wiki image )

so yeah - when it rounds the sun THEN you can be thrilled or disappointed.....McNaught was a once in a lifetime - right time and place - we were staying right on the water and just had to walk to the beach.
Keeping my fingers crossed for another realllly big show...

Ison special on PBS Is really good.
Resident in Cairns Australia • Current ride> 2014 Honda CB500F • Travel photos https://500px.com/p/macdoc?view=galleries
- JimC
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Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
Sensational pics, macdoc...
Nurse, where the fuck's my cardigan?
And my gin!
And my gin!
- Clinton Huxley
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Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
Let's hope this comet puts on a good show. That would be the Ison on the cake.....
"I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled"
AND MERRY XMAS TO ONE AND All!
http://25kv.co.uk/date_counter.php?date ... 20counting!!![/img-sig]
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled"
AND MERRY XMAS TO ONE AND All!
Re: Ison, The Coming Plague, Bombs Away?
Not my pics but from the location and in reality no pic could show just how far that tail went up across the Milky Way....was truly mind - bending.
Resident in Cairns Australia • Current ride> 2014 Honda CB500F • Travel photos https://500px.com/p/macdoc?view=galleries
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