COBS News archive

Comet ISON Appears Intact
October 17, 2013
A new image of the sunward plunging Comet ISON taken by NASAs Hubble Space Telescope on October 9, 2013, suggests that the comet is intact despite some predictions that the fragile icy nucleus might disintegrate as the Sun warms it. The comet will pass closest to the Sun on November 28.

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) - Update 2013-10-16
October 16, 2013
Further follow-up on C/2012 S1 (ISON) on 2013, Oct. 4-7, through the 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD + SDSS r Filter of Liverpool Telescope (MPC code J13).

Comet C/ISON Details Emerge as it Races Toward the Sun
October 11, 2013
Scientists are unraveling more information on Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) as it continues on its journey toward the Sun. Comet C/ISON will skim 730,000 miles above the Suns surface on Nov. 28 and has the potential to be readily visible from Earth starting in early December.

Comet ISONs Current Status
September 25, 2013
All of us in the CIOC Team routinely get many, often very similar, questions regarding Comet ISON. Foremost among these are How bright is Comet ISON right now? and How bright will Comet ISON get?. The latter of these we can only guess, but the former is a little more definite. Thus we are using this page to show the latest brightness estimates of Comet ISON, per the plot that you see below.

Amateur Astronomers See Comet ISON
September 24, 2013
Anticipation is building as Comet ISON approaches the sun for a close encounter on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28). No one knows if the blast of solar heating ISON receives will turn it into one of the finest comets in years--or destroy the icy visitor from the outer solar system.

NASAs Deep Space Comet Hunter Mission Comes to an End
September 23, 2013
After almost 9 years in space that included an unprecedented July 4th impact and subsequent flyby of a comet, an additional comet flyby, and the return of approximately 500,000 images of celestial objects, NASAs Deep Impact mission has ended.

Preparing of Comet ISON
September 23, 2013
ESA’s space missions are getting ready to observe an icy visitor to the inner Solar System: Comet ISON, which might also be visible in the night sky later this year as a naked eye object.

Comet Discovered Hiding in Plain Sight
September 12, 2013
For 30 years, a large near-Earth asteroid wandered its lone, intrepid path, passing before the scrutinizing eyes of scientists while keeping something to itself: 3552 Don Quixote, whose journey stretches to the orbit of Jupiter, now appears to be a comet.

New Comet: C/2013 R1 (LOVEJOY)
September 12, 2013
Cbet nr. 3649, issued on 2013, September 09, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude ~14.4) by Terry Lovejoy on CCD images obtained with a 20-cm f/2.1 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector on two nights. The new comet has been designated C/2013 R1 (LOVEJOY).

New Comet: C/2013 P2 (PANSTARRS)
August 09, 2013
Cbet nr. 3621, issued on 2013, August 07, announces the discovery of an apparently asteroidal object (discovery magnitude ~19.5) by professional survey F51 Pan-STARRS 1 (Haleakala) on CCD images obtained with 1.8-m Ritchey-Chretien on August 04, 2013 (pre-discovery Pan-STARRS1 observations from July 26 were found later by P. Veres).

New Comet: C/2013 L2 (CATALINA)
June 12, 2013
Cbet nr. 3548, issued on 2013, June 09, announces the discovery of an apparently asteroidal object (discovery magnitude ~19.6) by R. A. Kowalski on CCD images obtained with the Catalina Sky Survey 0.68-m Schmidt telescopeon June 02. After posting on the Minor Planet Centers NEOCP webpage, this apparently asteroidal object as been found to show cometary features by by astrometric observers elsewhere. The new comet has been designated C/2013 L2 (CATALINA).

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) - Update
May 23, 2013
Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) was discovered on September 21, 2012 by Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok on CCD images obtained with a 0.4-m f/3 Santel reflector of the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) near Kislovodsk, Russia.

Hubble Captures Comet ISON
April 26, 2013
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) was photographed on April 10, when the comet was slightly closer than Jupiters orbit at a distance of 386 million miles from the Sun (394 million miles from Earth).

New Comet: C/2013 G9 (TENAGRA)
April 22, 2013
Cbet nr. 3478, issued on 2013, April 19, announces the discovery of a apparently asteroidal object (discovery magnitude ~19.6) by M. Schwartz and P. R. Holvorcem on CCD images obtained with the Tenagra II 0.41-m f/3.75 astrograph located near Nogales, AZ, U.S.A.

New Comet: C/2013 G7 (McNAUGHT)
April 18, 2013
Cbet nr. 3476, issued on 2013, April 16, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude ~18) by R. H. McNaught on CCD images obtained with the 0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring on april 13.6. The new comet has been designated C/2013 G7 (McNAUGHT).

Update: Comet to Make Close Flyby of Red Planet in October 2014
April 16, 2013
New observations of comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) have allowed NASAs Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. to further refine the comets orbit.

New Comet: C/2013 G3 (PANSTARRS)
April 15, 2013
Cbet nr. 3472, issued on 2013, April 04, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude ~20.7) by PANSTARRS survey on CCD images obtained with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS1 telescope on Haleakala on April 10.4. The new comet has been designated C/2013 G3 (PANSTARRS).

New Comet: C/2013 G1 (KOWALSKI)
April 08, 2013
Cbet nr. 3454, issued on 2013, April 04, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude ~18.5) by R. A. Kowalski on CCD images obtained with the Mount Lemmon 1.5-m reflector on April 02.4. The new comet has been designated C/2013 G1 (KOWALSKI).

New Comet: C/2013 F3 (McNAUGHT)
April 03, 2013
Cbet nr. 3450, issued on 2013, April 01, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude ~17) by R. H. McNaught on CCD images obtained with the 0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring on March 29.7. The new comet has been designated C/2013 F3 (McNAUGHT).

NASAs Swift Sizes Up Comet ISON
March 29, 2013
Astronomers from the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP) and Lowell Observatory have used NASAs Swift satellite to check out comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), which may become one of the most dazzling in decades when it rounds the sun later this year.