BANGKOK, 22 November 2013 Comet Ison dubbed ‘the comet of the century’ can be spotted with the naked eye from late this month to early December.
According to the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, stargazers can spot the extremely bright comet during daylight during November 25-28, and possibly again on December 3-15.
The agency said members of the public are advised to view the comet in the early hours of the morning around 4.30 AM. Ison will become brightest On November 28 when it reaches the sun and begins its return journey past our planet, some 1.8 million kilometers away from the solar surface.
The comet has drawn much attention from the public, stargazers and professional astronomers because there are doubts whether it will survive its passage near the sun and because of hopes that it might flare up into a so-called ‘comet of the century’ after its sun flyby.
The ball of ice and dust is thought to have originated from the Oort cloud, a giant swarm of icy remnants from the creation of the solar system. Comet ISON was first discovered by Russian amateur astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok in September 2012, with a remotely operated telescope in the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON).
