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Comet P/Halley as taken March 8, 1986 by W. Liller, Easter Island, part of the International Halley Watch (IHW) Large Scale Phenomena Network. (NASA Gallery / September 26, 2012) |
You may have heard of Halley's comet visible in the 1980s. It's one of the best-known of the short-period comets, and is visible from Earth every 75–76 years. Others may be brighter but appear only once in thousands of years. Once such comet recently discovered may blaze brilliantly in the sky in 2013.
The new comet, named C/2012 S1 (ISON) was discovered this year by the International Scientific Optical Network in Russia.
It's currently too far away and too dim to be seen without special optics, but will become more visible to amateur astronomers in the coming months.
What's so interesting about this comet is astronomers believe it may be brighter than the full moon as it shoots acros the sky late next year (2013).
COMET TIMELINE
Right Now: In the northwest corner of Cancer and has magnitude of +18 (very dim)
Summer 2013: Predicted to reach binocular visibility by late summer
November 2013: Brightness will peak and will be visible to the naked eye
December 2013: Visible without optics through Mid January 2014
Learn more about this comet by reading>> Discovery News.com
