I’m beginning to wonder if it’ll even be possible to see comet ISON from where I live. I live in a city, and it’s certainly not possible to have dark skies here. I can’t go out to the countryside, as the only countryside around here is inaccessible during the night (no trains), and the view toward ISON is back over the heavily populated Yokohama area.
Right now, ISON is considered to be just visible if you’re in a dark skies area and if you have very good eyesight. It should brighten, but as it does, it gets closer to the sun. As it gets closer to the sun, it gets more difficult to see. NASA is saying that now may be the best time to see it. It’s kind of disappointing, but that’s the way it goes.
I remember seeing Hyakutake from the car in 1996. The sky was dark and it was evening. It was nowhere near the sun at that time. Very visible. Hale-Bopp was even better when I saw it in 1997. It was after sunset, and still light out, and I was on the roof of the Elliott Building at the University of Victoria with my astronomy class. What a view it was! It was incredibly visible. Best comet I’ve ever seen.
Have you ever seen a comet?
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