NASA'S STEREO Shows Comet ISON Approaching the Sun

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November 26, 2013

UPDATE: The latest movie from the STEREO-A spacecraft's Heliospheric Imager shows the comet over a five-day period from Nov. 20 to Nov. 25, 2013.

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NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, is monitoring Comet ISON as it approaches the sun. The latest movie from the STEREO-A spacecraft's Heliospheric Imager shows the comet moving in from the left side over a two-day period from Nov. 20 to Nov. 22, 2013. In addition to Earth and Mercury, Comet Encke can also be seen moving through the middle of the view. The sun sits outside the field of view of this camera, located to the right, off-screen, hinted at by the steady stream of particles, called the solar wind, moving in from the right.

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Related Links:

For more on ISON: http://www.nasa.gov/ison

For downloadable ISON imagery: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/Gallery/CometISON.html

Karen C. Fox
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

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STEREO captures comet ISON's journey to the sun, Nov. 20-22, 2013.

NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft is monitoring Comet ISON as it approaches the sun. The latest movie from the spacecraft's Heliospheric Imager shows Comet ISON, Mercury, Comet Encke and Earth over a two day period from Nov. 20 to Nov. 22, 2013. The sun sits right of the field of view of this camera.

Image Credit:

Karl Battams/NRL/NASA STEREO/CIOC.

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This still image from the video shows comet ISON just passing the plane of Mercury, with Comet Encke ahead and slightly above on Nov. 22, 2013. The sun is off-screen to the right.

Image Credit:

Karl Battams/NRL/NASA STEREO/CIOC

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This movie from the spacecraft's Heliospheric Imager shows Comet ISON, Mercury, Comet Encke andEarth over a five-day period from Nov. 20 to Nov. 25, 2013. The sun sits right of the field of view of this camera.

Image Credit:

NASA/STEREO

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Feature Link:

› Download video

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