Chasing Comet ISON

  • Released Tuesday, September 24, 2013
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Comet ISON approaches the inner solar system having just passed the orbit of Jupiter. It passes very close to Mars in early October 2013 before dipping below the ecliptic on its way towards perihelion on November 28, 2013. Comet ISON will make its closest pass to the Earth in January 2014 when it should be visible in the northern hemisphere.

In these movies, the cameras chase the comet from two different points of view.

This visualization shows comet ISON's approach to perihelion from a point of view perpendicular to the orbit plane of the comet.

This visualization shows comet ISON's approach to perihelion from a point of view along the comet's orbit.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

This page was originally published on Tuesday, September 24, 2013.
This page was last updated on Sunday, January 5, 2025 at 10:24 PM EST.

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