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Here is where you can find Comet ISON in the morning sky between November 9th and November
17th. Assuming ISON holds together, it will brighten significantly over this timeframe
and should become visible to the naked eye. As I reported on Twitter earlier this week,
I was able to observe the comet with 10x50 binoculars. Since then, the comet has brightened
such that it has become much easier to see with binoculars. Having said that, a much
better view can be had with a larger aperture instrument. A 10 inch reflector reveals much
more detail in the coma and tail. Just how bright ISON will become is hotly
debated, even among professional astronomers. My expectations have been slightly reduced.
I now hope to see it reach magnitude -4.5 at perihelion. However, I'm also concerned
about ISON's light curve prior to now. It was flat for quite some time, which for past
comets has been a predictor of pre-perihelion breakup. I temper that thought with the fact
that we really don't have enough light curves from prior new entrants from the Oort cloud
to give us any confidence in what may or may not occur. This kind of uncertainty makes
each observation a discovery, and provides amateur astronomers the opportunity to gather
scientifically important data.