Comet ISON Awareness Briefing Coming Soon to Our World – Fall 2013…perhaps March 28, 2013 Science Mission Directorate 1

Comets are Notoriously Unpredictable! 2

ISON was discovered by Russian astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok in September It's named after their night- sky survey program, the International Scientific Optical Network. Now near Jupiter, this sun-grazing comet may be the cosmic event of the year. What is Comet ISON? 3

Comet ISON Potential Observations Inbnd: Mars - Comet closest approach ~0.08 AU (Oct 4) – Late Sept: Earth ” telescopes will be able to observe – Late Oct-Nov: Earth – Naked Eye Brightness Perihelion: Earth – November 28 Outbnd: Earth - Comet closest approach ~0.44 AU (Jan 2) Comet-Mars Earth-Comet MVEMMVEM MVEMMVEM Inbound Outbound 4

From ScienceCast – “Comet of the Century” 5

Missions Asked to Observe Comet ISON (to date) Deep Impact Stereo SDO Juno LRO ISS Curiosity MRO BRRISON MESSENGER SOHO Hubble Rosetta Ground-based Observatories Amateur astronomy clubs Comet Lovejoy as seen from the International Space Station in late

Links Dr. Kelly’s Overview: _ison.pdf Deep Impact: Stereo: General Comet information: =Comets&Display=Events =Comets&Display=Events Multimedia (coming soon) and 7

2014 Connections Another Comet (Comet 2013 A1) will also have a close approach at Mars in October 2014 Comet Pan-STARRS and ISON provide additional awareness to the ESA/US Rosetta mission in 2014 where we will be landing on a Comet in November! 8