Community Corner

Where to see Comet ISON in Massachusetts

Comet ISON will make one pass around the Sun before leaving our solar system forever. If it survives the trip around the sun, it'll light up the December night sky.

Written by Roberto Scalese

If things break right, we may be in for a spectacular show.

Comet ISON, discovered earlier this year, will attempt to pass around the Sun on Thanksgiving day. If it survives that—and that's a big if, considering how close it's going to get to our closest star—the comet will light up the night sky for weeks to come.

Where should you look to see the comet once (and if) it passes around the Sun? According to NASA:

"If Comet ISON survives its trip around the sun, there’s a good chance that it will be incredibly bright and easily visible with the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere. In early December, it will be seen in the morning, low on the horizon to the east-southeast. In late December and early January, it will be visible all night long."

Up until this point, the comet's been visible in the pre-dawn hour, very close to the horizon. Often times, light from the rising sun made it invisible to the naked eye. Should ISON make it around the sun, we'll get a much better view of it as it leaves out solar system.

And when it's gone, it's gone forever. Unlike Halley's comet, ISON is on a parabolic trajectory, and is moving fast enough that it can escape the gravitational pull of the Sun. When it leaves our solar system, there's no force strong enough to drag it back. So this isn't a once-in-a-lifetime event; it's a one-in-a-universe event.


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