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<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:620px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/59977949@N04/8525459685/in/photostream/lightbox/">Erax7 (Mike/Flickr)</a></p><p class="caption">Pan STARRS at Burns Beach, Perth, Australia</p></div><keyword id="51550" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="comets">Comets</keyword> that are visible to the naked eye only happen once in every five to 10 years, <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/asteroids/news/comet20130307.html">according to NASA</a>.</p>
<p>That's why skywatchers around the world are lucky to see Comet Pan-STARRS dazzling at its brightest before it starts to get fainter in the night sky throughout the next few weeks. </p>
<p>Comet Pan-STARRS was discovered in June 2011 by a telescope in Hawaii.</p>
<p>The clump of ice and rocks has been visible to those in the Southern Hemisphere for several weeks, but people in the Northern Hemisphere were able to see it for the first time on Monday, March 11.</p>
<p>For those who have not had the opportunity to see the comet, we have collected some pictures on Flickr, taken by photographers from all parts of the globe.</p>

A Bright Comet Appears In The Northern Hemisphere For The First Time In Years [PHOTOS]

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>Early Wednesday morning, lucky skywatchers will get to see the last total lunar eclipse of the year.</p>
<p>The blood moon will be visible from even the brightest cities, like New York and Los Angeles, according to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmCK2Pfsh0Y#t=33">NASA's eclipse expert Fred Espenak.</a></p>
<p>Since the moon will be low in the sky, however, when it reaches totality, you'll need to be high up if you're in a crowded city if you want to watch the moon turn bright red as it approaches the horizon.</p>
<p>But if you cannot make it outside, can't find a suitable place, or if the clouds have come out to spite your lunar sighting, don't fret. <a href="http://live.slooh.com/stadium/live/highlight-the-total-lunar-eclipse-oct-8th">Slooh has you covered</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://live.slooh.com/">Slooh</a> is a live online observatory that uses a global network of robotic telescopes to offer live feeds of celestial events like lunar eclipses. In fact, Slooh was the <a href="http://www.spacedaily.com/news/telescopes-05h.html">first robotic telescope</a> to offer live viewing through a telescope on the web.</p>
<p><strong>The free <a href="http://new.livestream.com/accounts/8724297/events/3370349/player?width=560&amp;height=315&amp;autoPlay=true&amp;mute=false">live streaming</a> event will begin on Oct. 8 at 5:00 a.m. EDT (2:00 a.m. PDT) and last for four hours. You can even watch it live right here.</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>The livestream will be staffed by Slooh scientists Geoff Fox, Bob Berman, and Paul Cox, as well as multiple special guests.</p>
<p>One such guest is <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1776630/">Duncan Copp</a>, the producer of the documentary <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0925248/">In the Shadow of the Moon </a>and who has directed and produced many other astronomy films and TV shows.</p>
<p>If you have questions during the show for Copp or any of the other speakers, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sloohbloodmoon">use the hashtag #sloohbloodmoon</a>. The live feed will come from a global network of sites that Slooh has established in North America, Australia, New Zealand, eastern Asia, most of Japan, and the Hawaiian Islands.</p>
<p>In some parts of the world, live skywatchers will be able to see a selenelion eclipse, which only happens when the sun rises around the same time that the eclipsed moon sets. This rare phenomenon is only possible because of an optical illusion that Earth's atmosphere creates - so you can see both the moon and the sun even though they are 180 degrees away from each other.</p>

How To Watch Wednesday Morning's Lunar Eclipse -&#160;Even If It's Cloudy

<p>If you were on the East coast on Tuesday night and saw a bright red streak through the sky, you weren't alone. A <keyword id="6360409" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="NASA">NASA</keyword> rocket test left a trail of red light through the night sky, as a test run in preparation for the launch of two upcoming <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">space</keyword> observation missions, according to <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2013/01/29/nasa-rocket-test-will-streak-red-over-east-coast-tonight">Discover Magazine's 80 Beats blog</a>.</p>
<p>Here's the rocket:<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:620px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Image courtesy of NASA / Wallops Flight Facility</p><p class="caption">The rocket. </p></div></p>
<p>The red glow came from two exploding lithium canisters ignited after launch. They left trails that were high enough to be illuminated by the glow of the sun, turning them red.</p>
<p>These trails were visible from lots of places on the Eastern seaboard (from Canada to Florida). The rocket launched around 6 PM, EST, from Wallops Island, Virginia. Here's the map of where you should have been able to see the red trails:</p>
<p class="float_right"><div class="image-container" style="width:620px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Image courtesy of NASA / Wallops Flight Facility</p><p class="caption">Launch visibility map. The blue line indicates the rocket's projected course. The circles show where and when the vapor trails should be visible. </p></div></p>
<p class="float_right">Here's the rocket as it launched. It then successfully deployed its canisters of lithium. </p>
<p class="float_right">Here are a few images of the trails over the East Coast. They are smaller than the trailed made by last year's launch, but, "everything worked as planned," Wallops officials said on the livestream.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/nasa_wallops">nasa_wallops</a>Duck NC <a href="http://t.co/R0aII1HW" title="http://twitter.com/cath439/status/296391022827692032/photo/1">twitter.com/cath439/status…</a></p>
— cathy belcher (@cath439) <a href="https://twitter.com/cath439/status/296391022827692032">January 29, 2013</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/nasa_wallops">nasa_wallops</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23rocketsredglare">#rocketsredglare</a> <a href="http://t.co/V8icSxLh" title="http://twitter.com/MattWCurtis/status/296391003756183555/photo/1">twitter.com/MattWCurtis/st…</a></p>
— Matthew Curtis (@MattWCurtis) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWCurtis/status/296391003756183555">January 29, 2013</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/nasa_wallops">nasa_wallops</a> My view from Bloxom. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23rocketsredglare">#rocketsredglare</a> <a href="http://t.co/elMCKahu" title="http://twitter.com/vbseth/status/296392604147392514/photo/1">twitter.com/vbseth/status/…</a></p>
— Seth Stewart (@vbseth) <a href="https://twitter.com/vbseth/status/296392604147392514">January 29, 2013</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>A Norfolk, VA view of the lithium trails from the @<a href="https://twitter.com/nasa_wallops">nasa_wallops</a> sounding rocket launch. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23rocketsredglare">#rocketsredglare</a> <a href="http://t.co/ZQbOzHU0" title="http://twitter.com/ToTheNth/status/296395903491772416/photo/1">twitter.com/ToTheNth/statu…</a></p>
— To the Nth (@ToTheNth) <a href="https://twitter.com/ToTheNth/status/296395903491772416">January 29, 2013</a></blockquote>
<p><div class="image-container" style="width:620px"><div class="image"><a href="https://twitter.com/kristynmags/status/296396394397331456"></a></div><p class="source"><a href="http://instagram.com/p/VFfQWxSsck/">?@kristynmags </a></p></div>Send your pictures of the rocket to <a href="mailto:jwelsh@businessinsider.com">jwelsh@businessinsider.com</a> or <a href="http://www.twitter.com/bi_sci">tweet @bi_sci</a>.<a href="http://www.twitter.com/bi_sci"></a></p>

There Was A Weird Bright Red Cloud Trail Over The East Coast

<div type="image" title="green comet streaking across starry night sky with long white tail" height="1600" width="2492" msid="97185531" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>A rare green comet is flying past Earth, making its closest pass on Thursday.</li><li>Comet ZTF hasn't approached our planet since the last Ice Age, and humans may never see it again.</li></ul><p>A rare green comet is passing Earth, and this could be humanity's last chance to see it. Stunning photos reveal what you might see if you look to the pre-dawn skies and spot the ball of frozen gas and dust shooting past this week.</p><p>Formally, the comet is called C/2022 E3 (ZTF), named for the Zwicky Transient Facility, which first discovered it in March. But skywatchers call it Comet ZTF for short.</p><p>This icy cosmic passerby is painting a green streak across the sky through the first few days of February, reaching its closest point to Earth on Thursday, skimming past from 27 million miles away. You probably need binoculars to spot it, under <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-dark-skies-look-like-how-many-more-stars-than-cities-suburbs">dark skies far from city lights</a>.</p><p>If you catch Comet ZTF with a telescope, which would offer the clearest view, you could see something like this:</p><div type="image" title="green comet with diffuse white skirt and long white tail" height="1976" width="3044" msid="97534076" hostid="261" sizebytes="213704"></div><p>Many comets glow green like this. Laboratory <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2113315118" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">research</a> has <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/why-do-some-comets-glow-green" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">linked this aura</a> to a reactive molecule called dicarbon, which emits green light as sunlight decays it.</p><p>Though green comets occasionally pass Earth, this one won't return for about 50,000 years, if ever. That's how long it takes Comet ZTF to orbit the sun, which means that Neanderthals still walked the Earth when it last whizzed by, during the last Ice Age.</p><div type="image" title="green comet with yellow skirt and long white tail in starry night sky" height="2692" width="2046" msid="97185532" hostid="261"></div><p>"We like viewing and photographing the comet because bright ones are not only rare, but beautiful like this one. The tails of comets are never two alike," Chris Schur, an amateur astronomer and night-sky photographer in Arizona, told Insider in an email. "[Comets] move amongst the stars from night to night, making them a challenge sometimes to just find."</p><p>Astronomer Gianluca Masi captured the footage below of Comet ZTF, with its moving background of stars, during a live feed of his telescope observations:</p><div type="image" title="black and white bright comet against moving starry background" height="677" width="1024" msid="97185533" hostid="261"></div><p>"Observing such an 'icy world' is always very fascinating," Masi told Insider via email. "Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF reminds us, with its beauty, that those objects are the most elegant ones up there and we cannot simply miss the opportunity to have a look."</p><p>Want to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/green-comet-ztf-viewing-where-when-how-see-2023-1">see the green comet yourself</a>? Go to a place with dark skies, far from city lights, and look to the North before dawn, after the moon has set. Use a telescope if you can, or at least bring binoculars. Unless you're under very, very dark skies, the comet may not be visible to the naked eye.</p><p>According to <a href="https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/new-comet-might-get-bright-enough-for-binoculars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">EarthSky.org</a>, the comet is carving a path past the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.</p><p>"Keep in mind that the light from a comet is not a bright point, but a fuzzy, diffuse spot. So, train your eyes to look for the lighter haze on the background sky and you might see it," professional skywatchers at EarthSky wrote.</p><p>They recommend scanning the northern sky with binoculars until you spot the comet, then try to see it with your unaided eye.</p>

See the rare green comet in pictures so you know what to look for in the sky

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis</span></p><p class="caption">A full moon rises behind the Temple of Poseidon before a lunar eclipse in Cape Sounion, near Athens, Greece, July 27, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>On the night of July 27 and the early morning hours of July 28, sky-watchers across the Eastern Hemisphere were treated to the longest <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blood-moon-in-july-will-be-longest-lunar-eclipse-in-a-century-2018-6">lunar eclipse</a> </span><span>set to occur in the 21st century.</span></p><p>A<span> </span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-lunar-eclipses-work-earth-moon-red-shadow-2018-7">lunar eclipse<span> </span></a>occurs when the sun, Earth, and moon are directly aligned, and the moon's orbit brings it directly into Earth's shadow. During the eclipse, the moon will pass through the darkest region of Earth's shadow, known as the umbra, which will give the moon a reddish "blood moon" sheen.</p><p><span>The eclipse, which was visible across parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, happened at the same time as the moon's apogee - which is when the moon hits its furthest point from Earth in its monthly orbit.</span></p><p><span>The eclipse colored the moon orange-red due to sunlight passing through our planet's atmosphere and bouncing off the moon.</span></p><p><strong>See below for stunning pictures of the eclipse from around the world:</strong></p><p> </p>

See stunning photos of the longest 'blood moon' lunar eclipse of the century that swept across the Eastern Hemisphere

<p><div class="image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source">NASA</p></div></div></p>
<p>The timing of two cosmic events will present skywatchers with a great opportunity to see Venus in the daytime sky on Friday, if weather conditions are good. </p>
<p>Venus is the third brightest natural object in the sky, behind the sun and the moon. Even though Venus is very bright, it's not always easy to find in the daytime sky.</p>
<p>But on Dec. 6, Venus shines at its brightest, with a brightness magnitude of -4.9. Brighter stars have lower magnitude numbers. The brightest stars in sky are a magnitude 1, while the full moon is a magnitude -12.7, for example. </p>
<p>What also makes this event special is that the moon will get very close to Venus, acting as a guide for the eye, and making our sister planet easy to spot.</p>
<p>On Thursday, Dec. 5, Venus slipped just 8 degrees below the crescent moon. If you're looking up at the sky that distance is "slightly closer together than the span of your palm held at arm's length," <a href="http://astronomy.com/Venus2013" target="_blank">writes David Dickinson at Universe Today</a>.</p>
<p>To find Venus look toward the southwestern sky. <a href="http://www.space.com/23852-venus-shines-brightest-observing-guide.html" target="_blank">Space.com says</a> the planet will be at its brightest at 2 p.m. EST. </p>

Right Now Is Your Best Chance To Spot A Dazzling Venus During The Day

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>The solar flare that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-watch-extreme-solar-flare-2014-9">erupted on Wednesday</a> will be putting on a spectacular show this weekend, when the second of two <a href="http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/CMEs.shtml" target="_blank">coronal mass ejections</a> - charged gases shooting out from the sun - is projected to arrive.</p>
<p>These powerful solar storms will produce auroras that will potentially <a href="http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/trend/northern_lights_viewing_condit/33834457" target="_blank">be visible in the central and northeastern U.S.</a> during the late hours on Friday and Saturday, according to Tony Phillips at <a href="http://spaceweather.com/" target="_blank">spaceweather.com</a>. Auroras are natural nighttime light displays that are usually only visible in the northernmost parts of the world.</p>
<p>Here's a helpful <a href="http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/trend/northern_lights_viewing_condit/33834457">AccuWeather map of where the aurora</a> will appear:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>For any intrepid sky-watchers who are lucky enough to be in the visibility zone, the best time to look up will be after midnight, in every time zone, on Friday and Saturday.</p>
<p>Viewers in Washington state, most of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Minnesota, the northern parts of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, western Iowa, and the southeast part of South Dakota have the best chance of seeing the aurora, about 45%.</p>
<p>It's a coin toss, but one that could result in unforgettable beauty.</p>

Spectacular Auroras Could Be Visible In Parts Of The US This Weekend

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="F. Espenak/NASA" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5261665a6bb3f73a4504e1ce-960/screen%20shot%202013-10-18%20at%2012.42.02%20pm.png"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><a href="http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2013-Fig04.pdf">F. Espenak/NASA</a></p></div><p></p></div>There's a lunar <keyword id="45623" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="eclipse">eclipse</keyword> tonight.</p>
<p>Consult the <a href="http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2013-Fig04.pdf" target="_blank">map</a> above to find out if and when the eclipse will be visible in your region of the world.</p>
<p><span>For those in Canada (with the exception of Eastern Canada) and the United States, t</span>he eclipse will already be in progress when the <keyword id="42440" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moon">moon</keyword> rises. Skygazers in Europe, Africa, and Western Asia can see the entire event during the middle of the night, while Eastern Asia will miss the end of the eclipse because of moonset.</p>
<p>A lunar eclipse happens when the full moon passes through all or part of Earth's shadow. <span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The shadow cast by the Earth is composed of two parts. The inner-part, or umbra, is the region where no sunlight gets through. The outer-part, or penumbra, is a region that only partly blocks the sun. When the</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">moon is in the umbra it's completely dark, but if its in the penumbra, it's only shadowed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"></span><div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="F. Espenak/Nasa" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/52616ffdecad043957bd5e45-960/lunar%20eclipse.jpg"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source">F. Espenak/Nasa</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>There is a full moon every month (when the sun, the Earth, and the moon line up in that order), but most of the time the moon passes above or below Earth's shadow. Lunar eclipses, therefore, only happen two to four times a year when the moon moves through some part or all of Earth's shadow.</p>
<p>During a total lunar eclipse, the entire moon passes through Earth's umbral shadow. In a penumbral lunar eclipse, like the one occurring tonight, the moon passes through Earth's penumbral shadow, which isn't as dark. Penumbral eclipses are typically very subtle, and usually go undetected by observers.</p>
<p><strong>The <a href="http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2013.html#LE2013Oct18N" target="_blank">eclipse begins at 5:50 p.m. EDT</a>, but the shading won't be visible until around 7:30 p.m. EDT, when at least two-thirds of the moon's disk is in the penumbral shadow. The most noticeable phase of the eclipse occurs at 7:50 p.m. EDT. The viewing period of the eclipse will end around nominal eclipse visibility from about 23:30 to 00:10 UT.</strong></p>
<p>You can also watch the eclipse live online, which will be <a href="http://slooh-services.appspot.com/" target="_blank">broadcast</a> by the Slooh <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">Space</keyword> Camera.</p>
<p></p>

Exactly Where And When To Watch Tonight's Lunar Eclipse

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="F. Espenak/NASA" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5261665a6bb3f73a4504e1ce-960/screen%20shot%202013-10-18%20at%2012.42.02%20pm.png"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><a href="http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2013-Fig04.pdf">F. Espenak/NASA</a></p></div><p></p></div>There's a lunar <keyword id="45623" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="eclipse">eclipse</keyword> tonight.</p>
<p>Consult the <a href="http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2013-Fig04.pdf" target="_blank">map</a> above to find out if and when the eclipse will be visible in your region of the world.</p>
<p><span>For those in Canada (with the exception of Eastern Canada) and the United States, t</span>he eclipse will already be in progress when the <keyword id="42440" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moon">moon</keyword> rises. Skygazers in Europe, Africa, and Western Asia can see the entire event during the middle of the night, while Eastern Asia will miss the end of the eclipse because of moonset.</p>
<p><strong>Tonight's <a href="http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2013.html#LE2013Oct18N" target="_blank">eclipse begins at 5:50 p.m. EDT</a>, but the shading won't be visible until around 7:30 p.m. EDT, when at least two-thirds of the moon's disk is in Earth's outer-shadow. The most noticeable phase of the eclipse occurs at 7:50 p.m. EDT. The duration of the eclipse lasts for about 4 hours. </strong></p>
<p>A lunar eclipse happens when the full moon passes through all or part of Earth's shadow. <span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The shadow cast by the Earth is composed of two parts. <span>The inner-part, or umbra, is the region that blocks all sunlight from hitting the moon. The outer-part, or penumbra, is a region that partly blocks the sun from reaching the moon (see the diagram below). </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">When the </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">moon is in the umbra it's completely dark, but if it's in the penumbra, it's only shadowed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"></span><div class="KonaFilter image-container click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="F. Espenak/Nasa" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/52616ffdecad043957bd5e45-960/lunar%20eclipse.jpg"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source">F. Espenak/Nasa</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">During a total lunar eclipse, the entire moon passes through Earth's umbral shadow. In a penumbral lunar eclipse, like the one occurring tonight, the moon passes through Earth's penumbral shadow. Penumbral eclipses are typically very subtle, and usually go undetected by observers.</span></p>
<p>There is a full moon every month (when the sun, the Earth, and the moon line up in that order), but most of the time the moon passes above or below Earth's shadow. That's why lunar eclipses only happen two to four times a year when the moon moves through some part or all of Earth's shadow.</p>
<p>You can also watch the eclipse live online, which will be <a href="http://slooh-services.appspot.com/" target="_blank">broadcast</a> by the Slooh <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">Space</keyword> Camera.</p>
<p></p>

<p class="full"><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><p class="source">NASA/MSFC/Aaron Kingery</p><p class="caption"><keyword id="1400230" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Comet-ISON">Comet ISON</keyword> shows off its tail in this three-minute exposure taken on Nov. 19, 2013 at 6:10 a.m. EST.</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>Comet ISON is expected to make its closest approach to the sun on Thursday, Nov. 28. This also happens to be Thanksgiving day. On its trip around the sun, ISON will come within 730,000 miles of surface, but no one knows if it will come out on the other side in one piece. The comet could evaporate from extreme temperatures or be ripped apart by gravitational stresses. </p>
<p>Here's what you need to know.</p>
<p><strong>What is a comet? </strong></p>
<p><keyword id="51550" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="comets">Comets</keyword> are typically made of ice, dust, and rock. When a comets gets close to the sun, the heat causes the ice to vaporize. The vaporizing gas takes the dust with it and forms a tail that can sometimes be seen from Earth. Comets tend to orbit the outer-edge of the <keyword id="52393" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Solar-System">solar system</keyword> in the Oort Cloud or the Kupier belt, which is just beyond the orbit of Neptune. <strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>When was was Comet ISON discovered?</strong></p>
<p>ISON was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2013-ison-comet-spectacularly-bright-2012-12" target="_blank">discovered by a pair of Russian astronomers</a> on Sept. 21, 2012 while it was still in the Oort Cloud at the outer-edge of the solar system, beyond the orbit of Jupiter. </p>
<p><strong>What is the significance of ISON?</strong></p>
<p>ISON has never been to the inner-edge of our solar system before. Since it comes from the very edge of the solar system (it's been traveling for about 5.5 million years to reach us) it contains chunks of ice and rock from when our solar system was formed 4.5 billion years ago. This gives us a glimpse of what our solar system was like at its birth.</p>
<p><strong>How big is Comet ISON?</strong></p>
<p>When ISON was first detected, it was so bright that scientists thought it would pretty big once it got closer to Earth. But the comets has been shedding some mass during its journey and is now relatively small, Jim Green, director of NASA's planetary <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> division, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/comet-ison-if-it-survives-trip-around-the-sun-could-bring-spectacular-sky-show/2013/11/24/f544103a-53b6-11e3-a7f0-b790929232e1_story.html" target="_blank">told the Washington Post</a>. Green estimates that ISON is around 1.2 miles wide now. In July, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ison-comet-of-the-century-blasting-gas-2013-7" target="_blank">it was about triple that size</a>.</p>
<p><strong>What will happen to COMET ISON on Thanksgiving Day?</strong></p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GmTmmxDXbI" target="_blank">video for NASA</a>, Don Yeomans, manager of the <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">space</keyword> agency's Near-Earth Object Program, lays out three possible outcomes for Comet ISON when it rounds the sun on Nov. 28.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">In the first and most exciting scenario, ISON could survive the passage of the sun and continue on as an active comet. At its closet approach to sun, the comet's temperature will reach 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, </span><a href="http://www.isoncampaign.org/mmk/what-might-happen" target="_blank">writes astronomer Matthew Knight on the CIOS blog</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">. The extreme heat will cause much of the dust, rock, and ice on ISON's surface to vaporize, producing a fairly bright tail that would be visible in the early morning sky. V<span>iewers should also be able to see the comet during the first or second week of December. </span></span></p>
<p>In the second instance, the sun could break ISON apart in several large chunks. The break-up could happen at any time - before or after its closest approach to the sun. This could still produce a great show in early December, says <span>Yeomans. </span></p>
<p><span>In the last scenario, ISON could completely fizzle. It would disintegrate into a cloud of dust, torn apart by sun's intense gravity and heat. This is something that could happen at any time and would rule out the possibility of viewing the comet with the naked eye in December. </span></p>
<p><strong>How can I view Comet ISON?</strong></p>
<p>Astronomers and a fleet of NASA spacecraft have been watching ISON for the last several months, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stunning-photos-of-comet-ison-are-starting-to-roll-in-2013-11" target="_blank">snapping incredible photos</a> of its evolution. </p>
<p>Before dawn on Tuesday, Nov. 26, was the last chance to see Comet ISON before it rounds the sun, <a href="http://www.space.com/23724-comet-ison-complete-coverage.html" target="_blank">according to Space.com</a>. </p>
<p>If the comet isn't demolished, skywatchers should be able to see it with the naked eye or binoculars in the early morning sky during the first or second week of December.</p>
<p>Zolt Levay of Baltimore's Space Telescope Science Institute <a href="http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/stories/where-to-catch-the-best-views-of-comet-ison" target="_blank">told LiveScience</a>: "The best locations to view Comet ISON would be any place dark, away from artificial lights, with clear sky, lower humidity and a low eastern horizon, with no trees, buildings or mountains in the way."</p>
<p>Many national parks or beaches on the Atlantic Coast would provide unobstructed views.</p>
<p>NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory plans to <a href="http://cometison.gsfc.nasa.gov/" target="_blank">post near realtime images</a> of the comet as it grazes by the sun staring around 12:45 p.m. EST on Thanksgiving day.</p>

COMET ISON: The Most Exciting Thing To Happen On Thanksgiving

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Amateur sky-watchers in Canada, in conjunction with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/nasa">NASA scientists</a>, have made a startling discovery after years of looking up at the stars: a new type of aurora.</p><p>They named it STEVE, an acronym for&#xa0;Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.&#xa0;</p><p>While the new aurora may appear similar to the famous <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-auroras-solar-cycle-minimum-maximum-related-2017-12">northern lights (or aurora borealis)</a>, it's a phenomenon previously unknown to <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword>. Rather than the traditional greens and blue hues of other auroras, Steve appears to the human eye as purplish, and is surrounded by a green, fence-like structure.</p><p>The aurora is a narrow band of light, and it appears much closer to the equator than the northern lights - welcome news for people who want to see the phenomenon but aren't able to make a trip to the Arctic circle.&#xa0;</p><p>It's fleeting, though - sightings last between 20 minutes and an hour, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/mystery-of-purple-lights-in-sky-solved-with-help-from-citizen-scientists">according to NASA</a>.</p><p>The strange lights were first spotted by citizen scientists in Southern Canada in 2015. The amateurs formed a group, and started working with a team of aurora researchers at&#xa0;NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center called Aurorasaurus.</p><p>The amateur scientists shared their images of the mysterious lights with NASA to figure out their source, and the collaboration led them to publish the findings in the journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/3/eaaq0030">Science Advances</a>&#xa0;on Tuesday.</p><p>Check out some beautiful images of the aurora below:&#xa0;</p>

Amateur astronomers discovered a new type of aurora that you can see much farther south - and they named it 'Steve'

<p><div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source on-image">REUTERS</p><p class="caption">A <keyword id="1872222" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Harvest-Moon">Harvest Moon</keyword> seen in 2000.</p></div></div></p>
<p>Turn your attention toward the sky tonight. For those in North America, the Harvest <keyword id="42440" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moon">Moon</keyword> will look brightest and fullest at sunset on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Harvest Moon is the name for the full moon that is closest to the autumnal equinox, or the official start of fall, which will occur on Sept. 22.</p>
<p>Traditionally, every full moon has special nickname that says something about the season or time of year in which it appears. For example, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-february-snow-moon-2013-2">Snow Moon</a> is February during winter and the Flower Moon is in May during spring.</p>
<p>Before electricity, moonlight was crucial for farmers who had to work after sundown, especially in early autumn when many crops are ready to be harvested. For that reason, the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox (it can come either two weeks before or two weeks after depending on the year) was called the "Harvest Moon."</p>
<p>But the Harvest Moon is special for another reason.</p>
<p>Typically, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day throughout the year. But when the full moon occurs near the fall equinox, the gaps between moonrises are shorter. The moon rises only about 30 minutes later each night, appearing at sunset. This has to do with the moon's path, which makes a narrow angle with the horizon at the beginning of autumn. Not only does the moon rise unusually early in evening, but this happens for several nights in a row - before and after the full moon - resulting in three consecutive days of the moon appearing at nearly the same time.</p>
<p>Both of these events give the illusion that the Harvest Moon is bigger, brighter, and closer, but it's not. The moon is simply closest to the horizon at sunset, when most people are looking for the Harvest Moon. When the moon is near the horizon, it must pass through more dust and cloud particles that scatter blue light and only let red pass through.</p>
<p>That's why the Harvest Moon usually looks yellow, orange, or red.</p>
<p>If you can't step outside to grab an eyeful of the moon, the <a href="http://events.slooh.com/" target="_blank">Slooh Space Camera</a> will be showing real-time images of the Harvest Moon online.</p>

The Harvest Moon Is Coming 

<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Geometry_of_a_Total_Solar_Eclipse.svg">Wikipeda</a></p><p class="caption">The <keyword id="42440" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Moon">moon</keyword>'s shadow has two parts: The inner-shadow is known as the umbra and the outer-shadow is known as the penumbra. When the moon's penumbral shadow hits Earth, we see a partial eclipse of the <keyword id="24879" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sun">sun</keyword>. If the moon's umbral shadow, then a total eclipse is visible.</p></div><p></p></div>On Sunday, Nov. 3, an annular <keyword id="6699518" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Solar-Eclipse">solar eclipse</keyword> that changes into a total solar eclipse - called a hybrid eclipse - will be visible on the eastern coast in North America to parts of Africa and the Middle East.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun. When the three line up just right, a portion or all of the sun's light gets blocked by the moon's shadow striking Earth at the same time. </span></p>
<p>During a total solar eclipse, the moon's dark inner shadow - known as the umbral shadow - strikes Earth's surface and blocks out all of the sun's light in that region. But not all eclipses of the sun are total eclipses. The m<span>oon's orbit around Earth also influences what kind of eclipse we see. </span></p>
<p>In an annular solar eclipse, the moon crosses the sun at its farthest distance from Earth, meaning that from our perspective, the moon isn't big enough to cover the sun completely. "Looking down from <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">space</keyword>, we would see that the Moon's umbral shadow is not long enough to reach Earth," <a href="http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/SEprimer.html" target="_blank">writes Fed Espenak of MrEclipse.com</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, the sun appears as a bright ring surrounding the moon. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/annular-solar-eclipse-pictures-2012-2012-5">last annular solar eclipse</a> that was visible in the United States occurred in May 2012.</p>
<p>A hybrid solar eclipse occurs when an annular solar eclipse shifts into a total solar eclipse along different points of the eclipse path. These are very rare. <a href="http://www.universetoday.com/105651/rare-hybrid-solar-eclipse-on-november-3-2013-how-to-see-it/" target="_blank">According to Universe Today</a>: "<span>Of the 11,898 solar eclipses listed over a 5,000 year span from 1999 BC to 3000 AD in Fred Espenak's </span>Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses, only 569, or 4.8% are hybrids." <span><br /></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.space.com/23388-hybrid-solar-eclipse-sunday-visibility.html" target="_blank">Space.com</a> explains what regions will see either the partial or total eclipse:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Skywatchers in the eastern United States, northeastern South America, southern Europe, the Middle East and most of Africa will be treated to a partial solar eclipse, while people along the path of totality in central Africa will see the sun totally obscured by Earth's nearest neighbor for a few dramatic moments.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">If you live in eastern North America, you'll have to get up early to enjoy the show. The partial eclipse will be visible at sunrise - about 6:30 a.m. local time - and last for about 45 minutes, experts say. Viewers in Boston and New York will see the sun more than 50 percent covered by the moon, while our star will appear 47 percent obscured from Miami and Washington, D.C.</p>
<p><strong>Remember that all solar eclipses can damage your eyes. You should never look directly at the sun during an eclipse without a telescope filter or protective eyewear. (Sunglasses won't work).</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://events.slooh.com/" target="_blank">SLOOH</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> will be live broadcasting the total solar eclipse online from a remote region in Kenya. The live feed, embedded below, starts at 6:45 a.m. EST and ends at 10:15 a.m on Nov. 3. (Don't forget </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/when-does-daylight-savings-time-2013-end-2013-10">daylight saving time</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> ends early Sunday morning and our clocks will bump back one hour). </span></p>
<p></p>

How To Watch Sunday's Rare Hybrid Solar Eclipse

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>NASA</span></p><p class="caption">An illustration of Mars Opposition and the relative 'tilt' in the orbits of Earth and Mars.</p></div><p></p></div>Mars and the sun will be on directly opposite sides of the Earth on Tuesday, April 8, an event that happens roughly every two years.</p>
<p>The "opposition of Mars" means that skywatchers will be able to see Mars throughout the night as it rises in the eastern sky at sunset, moves nearly overhead at midnight, and sets at sunrise, <a href="http://mars.nasa.gov/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&amp;NewsID=1618" target="_blank">according to NASA</a>.</p>
<p>The Red Planet will be really easy to see with the naked eye, shining 10 times brighter than some of the brightest stars in the sky, NASA said.</p>
<p>The alignment happens because Earth and Mars orbit the sun at different distances. Earth is closer to the sun, so it takes around half the time to complete one trip around the sun. Every 26 months, the gap between Earth and Mars narrows - the sun, Earth, and Mars converge in a nearly straight line.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>NASA</span></p><p class="caption">Mars will be easy to see in the clear night sky throughout out the month of April. On the date of opposition it will shine brighter than Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. </p></div><p></p></div></div>If both Mars and Earth had circular orbits, then both planets would be at their minimum distance from each other on the date of opposition, NASA explains. But that's not the case. The orbits are elliptical so that Earth is closest to Mars one week later, on April 14, when the distance between the two bodies is 92 million kilometers (that seems far but it's relatively small on an astronomical scale).</p>
<p>Although April 8 and April 14 are both good dates to see Mars in the night sky, NASA says that you should be able to spot the blazing bright-orange planet on any night in April, provided there's a clear sky.</p>

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