Home/BlogIs Comet ISON just a a residual pile of cosmic dust? Or did it survive?
Shortly after passing perihelion, it looked like little was left. This SOHO LASCO C2 (narrow field) time lapse video shows what was believed to be the dusty remnants of ISON, without a bright nucleus, emerging from its close encounter with the sun:
But now, a few hours later, whatever is left is gradually getting brighter in the LASCO C3 (widefield) imager. From what I’ve read, the experts are totally confused (click image for the latest):
UPDATE: At 8:46 p.m. CST, Karl Battams Tweeted that he and his associates now believe ISON has survived with some portion of its nucleus intact.
97% of Nasa scientists agree with this and with a 95% confidence level!
Really Tim, you surveyed every Nasa scientist already?
Now, Brant, you aren’t one of those comet death deniers, are you?
The latest images verify it did indeed survive!
well, it looks like more than a residual pile of dust. The experts are now officially confused about just how much material survived, whether there still might be a nucleus.
Now, Nasa, what have we learnt about sweeping statements on never before studied events with limited data? 😉
It’s always easier for scientists to make definitive statements when they can’t be proved wrong anytime soon.
Would this be formally known as a Zommet now?
Moderator,
My comment, at http://www.drroyspencer.com/2013/11/comet-ison-rip/#comment-96290 is forever stuck awaiting moderation?
It seems to have been corroborated NASA Science at http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/04dec_isonrecap/
Thanks