Comet ISON [SEP] time of discovery
Comet ISON
Comet ISON, formally known as C/2012 S1, was a sungrazing comet discovered on 21 September 2012 by Vitaly Nevsky (Виталий Невский, Vitebsk, Belarus) and Artyom Novichonok (Артём Новичонок, Kondopoga, Russia).
History.
The discovery was made using the reflector of the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) near Kislovodsk, Russia. Data processing was carried out by automated asteroid-discovery program CoLiTec. Precovery images by the Mount Lemmon Survey from 28 December 2011 and by Pan-STARRS from 28
generate a hyperbolic solution. On its closest approach, Comet ISON passed about from Mars on 1 October 2013, and the remnants of Comet ISON passed about from Earth on 26 December 2013.
Shortly after its discovery, similarities between the orbital elements of Comet ISON and the Great Comet of 1680 led to speculation that there might be a connection between them. Further observations of ISON, however, showed that the two comets are not related.
When Earth passed near the orbit of Comet ISON on 14–15 January 2014, it