Paper Model Of Comet Ison'S Orbit printable pdf download

Paper Model Of Comet Ison'S Orbit

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Paper Model of Comet ISON’s Orbit

how the relationship between Earth and the comet

Comet ISON, officially known as C/2012 S1, is

constantly changes by referring to the dates along

an icy visitor from the edge of the solar system.

both orbits.

Its unusual orbit carries it extremely close to the

The top of the model’s Display Base represents

sun on Nov. 28, 2013. Around this time, comet

the plane of Earth’s orbit around the sun. The comet

ISON may become bright enough to glimpse in

spends less than a month south of (below) this

the daytime just by blocking the sun’s glare.

plane as it whips around the sun.

Comet ISON follows such an eccentric

Long ago, perhaps due to the gravitational

and steeply angled orbit that it can be difficult

influence of a passing star, comet ISON was nudged

to picture how it relates to the orbits of the

out of the Oort cloud, a storage zone at the fringes

inner planets. This paper model illustrates the

of the solar system that may hold a trillion comets.

comet’s path during its six-month trek in the

ISON fell toward the sun along an elongated path

vicinity of Earth, Venus and Mercury. Track

Comet ISON is making its way through the inner solar system. Visualize its unusual orbit and track its journey

around the sun with this paper model. The background image shows comet NEAT (C/2001 Q4) during its 2004

appearance.

Background: T. A. Rector (Univ. of Alaska Anchorage), Z. Levay and L. Frattare (STScI) and WIYN/NOAO/AURA/NSF

Paper Model Of Comet Ison'S Orbit