TORONTO – Comet ISON is nearing the sun and its fate is still unknown.
ISON will make its nearest approach to the sun on Nov. 28. If it survives the trip around the sun, it will once again be visible from Canada, making its closest approach to Earth on Dec. 26. And if it does survive, it may put on that show astronomers have been waiting for.
NASA will be hosting a Google+ Hangout on Nov. 28 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. EST.
ISON had long been touted as the “comet of the century” but initial estimates that it would near a brightness that would make it visible to the naked eye are proving to have been overly optimistic.
Instead, ISON remained visible only through telescopes until Nov. 13 when it encountered a brief period of brightening.
READ MORE: Comet ISON photographed from Mars
The exact cause of the brightening is unknown, though there is some speculation that it has already begun to break apart, thus producing the sublimation – the transformation from a frozen material to a gas – that caused the comet to increase in brightness.
ISON was visible in binoculars until it neared the sun over the weekend.
Comets, which orbit the sun, are made up of ice and dirt and are often referred to as “dirty snowballs.”
Some comets, called sun-grazers, orbit very close to the sun which can cause the comet to break up. That is why the fate of ISON is unknown.
Comet ISON was discovered by Russian astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok on Sept. 21, 2012 (its official name is C/2012 S1; ISON stands for the International Scientific Optical Network, named for a group of observatories which track objects in space).
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