UPDATED | December 3, 2013: It would seem that ISON is finally. . . ICE-OFF. We will miss ye, oh celestial sojourner.
“. . .A learned woman is thought to be a comet that bodes mischief whenever she appears. . . .”
-- Fred L. Whipple
"Comets are like cats; they both have tails and do precisely what they want. . . ."
-- David H. Levy
Wilfred Campbell wrote about the "flaming star" [Haley's Comet] in his diary on April 13,1910: "I believe that the Comet has its appointed place and task in the universe. It may be a vast carrier of necessary elements or gases or other substances necessary to life on the planets so that they may revive or receive new life. No one can fathom the vast unplumbed deeps of the mystery of the universe. Our mind is finite, but the soul is wider in its dim consciousness of things outside its comprehension. . . ."
-- Carl F. Klinck, Wilfred Campbell: A Study in Late Provincial Victorianism
So, it seems more and more likely that ISON has survived, at least in parts, as it hit the 1,000 degree temps, and bent real hard, around the sun. It may or may not be visible to the naked eye at dawn now, come early December -- but it likely will be visible by telescope, during that time.
From NASA.gov -- then:
. . . .Continuing a history of surprising behavior, material from Comet ISON appeared on the other side of the sun on the evening on Nov. 28, 2013, despite not having been seen in observations during its closest approach to the sun. The question remains whether it is merely debris from the comet, or if some portion of the comet's nucleus survived, but late-night analysis from scientists with NASA's Comet ISON Observing campaign suggest that there is at least a small nucleus intact. . . .
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