Fun Facts About Comet ISON

     Dear Diary...

     All you need to know about the so-called Comet of the Century is right here, you're welcome. Even though, I wouldn't go as far as calling it the Century's Superstar, Comet ISON will be making headlines in no time! The last Comet that got astrophotographers around the world drooling, is Comet PanSTARRS, check these photos out if you still haven't.

Comet ISON's trajectory

     Again, astronomers shouldn't be allowed to name things, this comet's official name is C/2012 S1 (ISON). 'Why', you ask? Because it was discovered by two Russian fellows in September of 2012 at the International Scientific Optical Network (and that spells ISON, you silly). What's most interesting about comets is how unpredictable they are, ISON could be the show of the decade or the joke of the month, it could turn out to be a dazzling light in the sky or a completely failed event. Let's get down with some numbers:

• ISON is as old the Solar System, and I mean 4,6 billion years old. All comets and other small space objects roaming about, were formed while our Solar System was taking shape, so these rocks are older than any rock you can find on Earth (that's not a meteor, of course)
• ISON was discovered while it was 940 million kilometers (584 million miles) away from the Sun, that's nearly 6 times the Earth-Sun distance.
• ISON has been traveling towards the Sun, and coming all the way from the edge of our Solar System, or the Oort Cloud (you can pronounce that however you like by the way) that's 1 light year away (yep, 10 million million kilometers)
• ISON's trajectory is so perfect that it suggests that this Comet is visiting the Sun for the very first time, and once it does, the Sun will twist the trajectory a little bit.
• ISON is moving towards the Sun, getting brighter and brighter, until reaching its perihelion (that's a techie word for closest to the Sun) on November 28th 2013, it'll come as close as only 1,3 million kilometers (800,000 miles) to the solar surface
• ISON will reach the Sun at a dazzling speed of 684,000 Km/h (425,000 mph) and the temperature on its surface can reach 1,1 million degrees Celsius (1,98 million degrees Fahrenheit) 
• ISON pauses no risk whatsoever, news of a possible collision are not true, don't click on those links children, they're all lies. We're at a safe distance of 60 million kilometers away, all we might get is a meteor shower when the Earth passes through the Comet's debris in space. 

     Here's the list of possible scenarios:

     If ISON survives its solar pass-by, it could emerge so bright it could outshine Venus and even a Full Moon, and it would be visible during broad daylight (and you're very unlucky if you live in a super-cloudy city). Kind of like Comet Lovejoy back in 2011, it emerged intact with an awesome tail.

Comet Lovejoy from from Quarry Hill Lookout, South Australia, by Mark Dawson.

     Or ISON could break up, leaving a trail of shiny pearls, easily visible through a telescope. Kind of like Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 back in 1994.

Come Shoemaker-Levy 9 taken by the Hubble Telescope

      Or else, ISON will just burn up and die, due to the Sun's stormy fits and strong gravity, and all astro-loving humans like myself, will be very unhappy. Kind of like Comet Kohoutek back in 1973, the Sun destroyed its nucleus and it was barely visible to the naked eye. 

      Hopefully ISON's relatively big size will assist in its safe flyby and will offer a breathtaking celestial show, as well as a staggeringly bright and large tail. This event is one that can not and that should not be missed!

    Good news: ISON is twice as big as Lovejoy. (Less annihilation risk)

    Bad news: ISON will come 10 times more closely to the Sun than Kohoutek did. (More annihilation risk)

   Good news: (I couldn't help it) the closer a comet gets to the Sun, the brighter it'll shine. (Prettier show)

TED Junior - Alina Razzouk

     Dear Diary...

    A few weeks ago, I got an awesome invitation to what turned out to be a very memorable and blog-post-deserving event. The Guides Du Liban - Groupe Sainte Famille Fanar organized a TED Junior event at my old school, and I was lucky enough to be one of the speakers!
     I warmly welcomed the opportunity to talk to a teenage audience, to some familiar faces as well as new ones. The purpose of the conference was primarily an orientation, a sort of 'hey so here's what I went through, do this not that', and I also rambled about my personal post-graduation adventures, both professionally and academically. Enough text, I'll leave you with the conference video, accompanied by English subtitles. I've been told it's popcorn-worthy, so be sure to watch these fifteen minutes!

The following article is not as scientifically reliable as the rest of the blog, but some things just need to be put out there, for the world to see, literally.

Some of you may not know the story of Frida, commonly recognized as a Mexican painter; she's also known to be an evil witch, according to legend of course. She never went to Hogwarts though.

This article is by a guest author, one of my dearest friends on the Blue Planet, a psych major with an above average IQ, a very pretty lady, and a very promising author. Her style is flawless, her writing is expressive, and her thoughts are deep. Enjoy it as much as I did!

Frida, the b**** wished dead by everyone

       Dear Diary...

      Science has studied over the years the evolution of b******. They are not what they used to be. Let’s journey back to a time when a b**** was simply the female dog. 

Cute as hell right? RIGHT?!

     Such cute and harmless creatures! If you wanted one, you’d get one, they didn’t come bugging you anyway even if they were uninvited! And they certainly wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.

But society couldn’t just leave these b****** alone; they had to name prostitutes after them. 

Not so cute anymore huh?

     No more innocence there, and definitely not cute anymore, but still, they mind their own business, if you want one (for any reason, hey, no one’s judging), you get one. They don’t come unless they’re wanted. 

     Now to our principal matter, the new kind of b****, the one that never should have existed in the first place, the only… Frida. 

 

Now THAT is what I call Ugly!

     Not cute, not innocent, not harmless… just plain cruel and ugly. Unlike the other b******, this one doesn’t care if you want her to or not, b**** is going to show up on your scans and go like “Deal with it suckers, I’m here to stay”, unfortunately for you my dear horrible Frida, with a level of awesomeness as high as my friend’s you ain’t got nothing to do here! So I take this opportunity, for her birthday, to wish you, with all my heart, goodbye. I will not miss you; I will not even remember you when you’re gone; and I hope you’ll never ever show your face again. 

Sincerely, 

      Nour Abdelnour.

Comet PanSTARRS Around The World

     Dear Diary...

    The internet has been buzzing with news and photos about Comet PanSTARRS, a comet that reaches its perihelion (that's geeky for closest-to-the-Sun-like-ever) during March 2013.

   Comet is one of Santa Claus' reindeer, or it's an object composed of dirt and ice, it originates from either the Kuiper Belt or the Oort Cloud, and it's characterized by a tail when in proximity to the Sun. A few pictures of the the comet from around the world:

     Best part? It's visible to the naked eye, yet tricky; it's best visible right after sunset and right before twilight, annoying right? Anyway, you can tell your friends you stargazed, no telescope required. The comet was next to the Moon on March 12 and 13, and if you still haven't seen it, you still have a chance to do so till the end of March. Its light will be dimmer but your chances of spotting it are greater since it'll be appearing in darker skies as it climbs higher.

Spotting PanSTARRS

    This is all exciting and all, but the comet I can't wait to see is Comet ISON, that'll be visiting in late 2013, and promising an awesome light show. Now, more fun facts about PanSTARRS:

• Its closet approach to Earth is within 164 million kilometers (102 million miles)
• Its closet approach to the Sun is within 45 million km (28 million miles)
• The ice contained in that comet is primitive, meaning it's as old as the Solar System, that's right, it's some 4.5 billion years old
• The comet's been traveling for millions of years to reach us, all the way from the Oort cloud that's nearly 1 light year away, and the gravity from the Sun will shorten its orbit by 110,000 years

Star-Gazing and Cancer-Fighting

     Dear Diary...

      It's no secret that astronomy has always, even if indirectly, bettered humanity. Whether it's in our understanding of the cosmos and some other concepts that require really long words, or simple NASA inventions we use everyday like invisible braces, ear thermometers, shoe insoles and water filters. However, how can space telescopes help out oncologists? How can nebulae imaging techniques lower heart attack risks? 

Speaking of stargazing, "Le Petit Prince"

   Behold! The new best thing: Astronomy and Medicine. This cross-discipline of science may seem ridiculous and questionable; and I'm not discussing astronauts' health problems like Alzheimer's, I'm talking about imaging tools and techniques. Here's how Harvard's Astronomical Medicine Project's homepage sees it:

While astronomy and medical imaging seem very different, both fields search through large amounts of image data looking for meaningful patterns. For example, a physician may inspect a patient's MRI scans looking for signs of disease, while an astronomer will analyze radio telescope image data to find evidence of a new star being born.

   Computerized algorithms carried out in telescopes, are being implemented in microscopes, so that the same techniques used to zoom in on distant galaxies are assisting in indicating the presence, or gravity, of a tumor. Even though this combination of fields is unfamiliar, I'm surprised they didn't consider to team up a long time ago. These two departments realized their similarity by accident while discussing data analysis techniques, and I'm really glad they did.

Same imaging techniques used on human brain (left) and IC348, a star formation region (right)

     Oncologists and astronomers at some of UK's best colleges, have collaborated by using astro-awesome computer programs to analyze cancerous cells. This technique can even improve survival rates by by better analyzing large numbers of tumors, and by better determining suitable treatments, and allowing doctors to commence healing at an earlier stage.  

These two disciplines can go beyond cancer treatment, 3D data visualization used in nebulae mapping fro example, can help cardiologists better locate dysfunctional coronary arteries to avoid heart diseases, you can watch a TED talk on Astronomical Medicine right here, you're welcome.

"It's nice to think that my normal job is hunting for the most distant supernova but now I'm helping oncologists speed up their work and improving survival rates for people much closer to home. It's an inspiring thought." - Dr Nicholas Walton, of the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge

     This recent breakthrough promises a new leap in oncology and medicine in general, researchers are planning to launch an international study involving samples from more than 20,000 breast cancer patients.

For a reminder on the very best stargazing events in 2013, go here!

Yosemite Winter Night, December 25th 2012's Astronomy Picture Of the Day