Rosetta Update and Nature's 10 People who mattered this year.

Update to earlier blog post http://lowbrows.blogspot.com/2014/11/rosetta-spacecraft-expected-to-land-on.html ...

The magazine Nature published "365 days: Nature's 10, Ten People who mattered this year." The first of these 10 people was Andrea Accomazzo "A former test pilot steered the Rosetta mission to an icy world in deep space."

The Rosetta mission was the first successful attempt to place a lander on a comet. Some media reports described the mission as a failure. Any media reports of a "failure" completely miss the point.

After bouncing a few times, the lander was firmly on Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko's surface, but in a position where its solar panels will not get any light. So the lander cannot operate as expected. Nevertheless the entire mission has been mostly successful, already resulting in new insights about comets.

The Rosetta spacecraft itself has operated fine, and the lander was able to collect data for a few hours on batteries before it shut itself off due to insufficient power. Mishaps like this happen, and don't necessarily turn a mission into a "failure." Besides there is still a real possibility that the lander will be able to get power over the next few months as the angle of the sun changes.

http://www.nature.com/news/365-days-nature-s-10-1.16562

Among other things the mission returned some beautiful photos. This picture is of the high cliffs on
Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko taken by the Rosetta spacecraft

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141223.html

Rosetta spacecraft expected to land on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

This Wednesday Morning (November 12) at 10:30AM Eastern Standard Time the Rosetta spacecraft is expected to land on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. If successful, this will be the first time any spacecraft has landed on a comet.

See these links for more information...

www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Frequently_asked_questions

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/science/space/landing-on-a-comet-inside-rosetta-orbiters-philae-landing-mission.html?_r=0

blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/11/11/tracking-philaes-descent-with-magnetic-data/

To watch the landing on streaming video, go to either of these sites (note there is a 30 minute delay, if the landing occurs at 10:30AM, we will see the landing at 11:00AM).

new.livestream.com/ESA/cometlanding

www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2471982,00.asp

Update on Comet ISON

Comet ISON has brightened recently. Comets can be unpredictable, so we can't know exactly how bright it will get. But it is worth taking a look.

It will pass behind the sun on November 28th, the best view is likely to be sometime between now and the 28th. If you want to view the comet the following are good resources:

• http://www.isoncampaign.org/
• http://www.isoncampaign.org/karl/did-ison-fragment
• http://isontracker.com/

On November 18, there was information about Comet ISON on spaceweather (http://spaceweather.com/).

Comet ISON: Unique Meteor Shower Mid-January 2014

This November, the second bright comet of 2013, Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), is predicted to be at its brightest.

Comets often produce plumes of dust. If these dust plumes intersect the orbit of the Earth, we observe meteor showers. Paul Wiegert of the University of Western Ontario has been modeling the dust plumes and offered the following prediction...

"For several days around January 12, 2014, Earth will pass through a stream of fine-grained debris from Comet ISON. The resulting shower could have some interesting properties."

While the comet is expected to brightest in late November, the Earth will not intersect the dust plume until a couple months later. And while this could be the brightest comet we've seen in many years, comets are notoriously unpredictable. However it is worth looking for Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) and the associated meteor shower. Note late November is merely when the comet is brightest, it should be visible before and after that time. See the following for more details...

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/19apr_isonids/
http://www.space.com/19408-bright-comets-approaching-2013.html

Comet C/2011 L4 (PanSTARRS)

We have the first of two bright comets for 2013 near to closest approach this month. Comet C/2011 L4 (PanSTARRS) should be at maximum brightness on March 10 (give or take a few days). For more information look at...

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance?pos=left

Keep in mind that comets are often unpredictable, they can be brighter or dimmer than expected. Also the best time to look for a comet isn't necessarily at maximum brightness (since it might be low in the sky or even below the horizon at that point). That will vary by where you are viewing the comet from.

The other bright comet is Comet ISON. It is expected to be at it is brightest in November. We'll get better information on ISON over the next few months.