Blazing a Ghostly Trail ISON and Great Comets of the Past and Future
A special celestial event climaxes towards the end of 2013, the arrival, fresh from the Oort Cloud, of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON). By all predictions, this comet was set to be one of the most dazzling comets seen in modern history. Sky watchers will hav
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Blazing a Ghostly Trail ISON and Great Comets of the Past and Future
The Patrick Moore
The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series
For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/3192
Blazing a Ghostly Trail
ISON and Great Comets of the Past and Future Peter Grego
Peter Grego St Dennis, Cornwall, UK
ISSN 1431-9756 ISBN 978-3-319-01774-7 ISBN 978-3-319-01775-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01775-4 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2013950100 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
Right now, a comet is heading towards the inner Solar System. This visitor from the frozen cosmic depths—an ‘icy dirtball’ the diameter of a small town—has every chance of becoming bright enough to be seen with the unaided eye as the increasing heat of the Sun turns its ices to gas and its dust grains are freed into space. Indeed, the comet is likely to develop spectacular gas and dust tails that stretch across the sky. One of nature’s most sublime sights, its appearance is set to be indelibly impressed upon the long-term memories of everyone who sees it.
This was by no means an exaggerated statement. It has always applied, since before the first human
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