NASA confirms "comet of the century" ISON has burned up

• December 4, 2013 21:22

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) confirmed on December 3 that comet ISON, dubbed the "comet of the century," was burned up by the tremendous heat when it entered the Sun's orbit last week.

Source: universetoday.com

Speaking to the press, Dr. Alex Young of NASA said that although the exact time when comet ISON burned up has not been determined, scientists are currently only observing a nucleusless cloud of debris floating in space, which is believed to be the remaining remnants of this comet.

NASA experts believe that ISON disintegrated when it flew past the Sun at a distance too close - about 1.2 million km - and was burned by the heat radiating from the Sun with temperatures reaching over 2,700 degrees Celsius.

An estimated 3 million tons of cometary material is burned up every second as ISON approaches its closest point to the sun.

Discovered by two Russian astronomers in September 2012, comet ISON with a diameter of 1.2 km immediately attracted the attention of the scientific community because it originated from the materials that formed the Solar System 4.5 billion years ago.

Leaving the Oort cloud at the edge of the Solar System, a region containing billions of rocks and ices left over from the formation of the planets, ISON entered the Sun's orbit due to the strong gravitational pull of the sun.

The "death" of ISON is a pity for the scientific community because astronomers had expected this star from the outer region of the Solar System to create a spectacular sight in the sky, reflecting light comparable to a full moon from the sun.

However, NASA said researchers can still collect valuable data from ISON's journey through galaxies as well as its remaining material to shed light on the origin and composition of comets and planets billions of years ago.

According to Vietnamplus