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

Optical Society of America Meeting

Hi All,

Please join us for the last AA OSA talk of the 2012-2013 school year.  The April AA OSA meeting is NOT on Tuesday, the 9th; it is on Tuesday, the 16th!  We will also be planning an "Optics & Beer" event for May.

David Shindell

AA OSA current president

Optical Society of America

Ann Arbor Local Section

Public Meeting Notice

Tuesday, 16 April 2013, 8:00-9:45 pm

Location: U-M EECS Room 1005

Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Building

North Campus, University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Optical Signal Processing

Dr. Jeffrey A. Fessler

University of Michigan, EECS Dept., Ann Arbor  MI

Flyer for this event

U-M Astronomy Stories

Here are some recent astronomy stories from the University of Michigan news service....

December 11, 2012: An older Vega: New insights about the star all others are measured by.

February 17, 2013:  Water on the moon: It’s been there all along.

March 15, 2013:  Young supernova remains found by U-M astronomer.

April 3, 2013:  Green Pea galaxies could help astronomers understand early universe.

April 8, 2013: Mars Science Lab update: What remains of Mars’ atmosphere is still dynamic.