Comet ISON to have close encounter with the Sun
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.027536
NPR : First spotted a little more than a year ago, comet ISON is poised to pass extremely close to the Sun on 28 November. The comet was named for the International Scientific Optical Network, credited for its discovery. ISON is drawing considerable attention because it’s some 4.5 billion years old and is going to pass through the Sun’s corona. If it survives the Sun’s heat and gravitational force, the comet could be visible in daylight through December for those in the Northern Hemisphere. Astronomers are gearing up to glean data on ISON’s composition and water signature and to see whether it might contain organic compounds, such as amino acids. Most important, it may provide clues to how the solar system formed.
