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COMET ISON LIVES UP TO THE HYPE: Comet ISON is now only 5 days from perihelion. On Nov,
28th, Thanksgiving Day in the USA, it will fly through the sun's atmosphere little more
than a million kilometers above the surface of the sun. At closest approach, the temperature
of ISON's core could rise as high as 5000o Fahrenheit--an existential challenge for an
icy comet. No one knows
if it will survive.
As the "final countdown" ticks to zero, photographers are taking some marvelous parting shots. Here
is Comet ISON plunging into the sunrise beside Mt. Fuji on Nov. 22nd:
Japanese photographer Kagaya took the picture using a Canon EOS 1D C digital camera. "This
is a 3-second exposure at ISO 2000," he says. In the full-sized image, you can also see
Mercury hovering to the left of the comet.
For more unique images of Comet ISON, including a Nov. 23rd daytime shot from Los Angeles
and a conjunction with the Temple of Poseidon in Greece, browse the realtime photo gallery: