Great Comets from Humble Origins & Eyes on ISON Hubble Science Briefing Dr. Frank Summers November 7, 2013

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Great Comets Caesar's Comet – 44 BC Halley's Comet – 1066 Great Comet of 1106 Great Comet of 1264 Great Comet of 1402 Great Comet of 1556 Great Comet of 1577 Great Comet of 1680 Great Comet of 1744 Great Comet of 1811 Great Comet of 1843 Donati's Comet – 1858 Great Comet of 1861 Great Comet of 1882 Great Daylight Comet of 1910 Halley's Comet – 1910 Comet Skjellerup–Maristany – 1927 Comet Arend–Roland – 1957 Comet Seki-Lines – 1962 Comet Ikeya–Seki – 1965 Comet Bennett – 1970 Comet West – 1976 Comet Hyakutake – 1996 Comet Hale–Bopp – 1997 Comet McNaught – 2007 Comet Lovejoy – Wikipedia

Great Comets “Great Comets in History” –Don Yeomans, April 2007 –71 since 373 BCE (72 w/ Lovejoy) –22 appearances of Comet Halley Characteristics –Tails up to 100 degrees long –Some visible during daylight –Many appear to be sungrazers –Several have broken into pieces –Kreutz family 1843, 1880, 1882, 1887, 1945, 1963, 1965, 1970 Statistics –1-3 each century until Renaissance –1400s – 4 –1500s – 5 –1600s – 7 –1700s – 2 –1800s – 8 –1900s – 9 –2000s – 1 13

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The Heart of a Comet 15

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Dust in the Solar Wind 22

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Interplanetary Interlopers 34

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To the Ends of the Solar System 43

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Kuiper BeltOort Cloud Humble Origins 54

Comet ISON Coming Soon to a Sky Near You 55

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April 10, 2013 May 8, 2013 Comet ISON 62

Plot by Seiichi Yoshida 63

Plot by Seiichi Yoshida 64

Plot by Seiichi Yoshida 65

Breaking Up is Not Hard to Do 66

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Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 75

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 76

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 77

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 78

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Eyes on ISON 84

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Oct 9, 2013 Comet ISON 92

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Canary Island Serenade 97

Comet ISON Mid to Late November –May be visible just before dawn Nov 28, 2013 –Closest approach to Sun Early December –Survive perihelion? –Just before dawn & just after sunset –Probably fade away before holidays 98

Resources Sky & Telescope Universe Today NASA Comet ISON Observing Campaign Blogs –HubbleSite ISONblog –Waiting for ISON –The Sky Live –CIOC blog 99

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Thank you! 101

Bonus material – A Smash Hit 102

Washing Machine Crashes into Iceberg at 25,000 MPH 103

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