Sky-gazers’ date with ISON comet

Amateur astronomer K. Radha Krishna watching comets along with a few enthusiasts in Vijayawada. —Photo: Ch.Vijaya Bhaskar 

 

                Here is a chance for you all to see a bright comet on the eastern horizon of the city one hour before sunrise. It is International Scientific Optical Network (ISON), the name given to the comet that is very active for the several days and people all over the world had been tracking it with their telescopes. An amateur astronomer, K. Radha Krishna, who developed the hobby in 1980, watches several interesting things in the sky with the help of a telescope from his terrace near Hanuman Temple on Eluru Road in Vijayawada.

              The latest to watch have been the ‘Beautiful’ comets ISON along with Lovejoy. “While Lovejoy can be seen with a telescope or good binoculars from midnight overhead in Vijayawada, it is visible in the eastern sky from around 4.30 a.m.,” Mr. Radha Krishna told The Hindu .

On November 28 the Sun-grazing Comet ISON will fly by the Sun at a distance of only 1.8 million km. On November 7, ISON’s light intensity increased abruptly; several observers announced a sudden rise in the comet’s activity, he explained. “The comet may not be able to return after flying past Sun or if it returns, it will be again visible to naked eye for some more days from December 1,” he says. Images of ISON taken by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany and the Wendelstein Observatory now offer possible evidence for the cause of this outburst. On November 14 and 16, the researchers aimed their telescope towards the approaching visitor.

This comet once going out of the Solar System, will not return at all. Comet Lovejoy can be seen in Great Bear Constellation and has been formally designated C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), and it is a long-period comet and Kreutz Sungrazer (going menacingly close to Sun).

Courtesy with:  THE HINDU