Comet ISON, the most closely watched comet in recent years, may be visible from Schuylkill County next month if it survives its close encounter with the sun.
Thomas Guzick, science teacher at Pottsville Area High School, said that right now, Comet ISON is approaching the sun and would have reached perihelion, meaning its closest distance to the sun, at 730,000 miles Thursday.
"Astronomers are concerned that comet ISON will not survive its encounter with the sun and break apart and be destroyed," Guzick said. "If the comet survives then it should become visible in December in the night-time sky. ISON makes its closest approach to the Earth on Dec. 26 and be visible all of Christmas eve night and Christmas night."
According to a story from The Associated Press, comets are giant snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that can be several miles in diameter. When they get near the sun, they warm up and spew out some of the gas and dirt, creating a tail that can stretch for thousands of miles.
Most comets are in the outer part of our solar system, but when they get close enough for us to see them, scientists study them for clues about how our solar system formed.
ISON was discovered in September 2012 by astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok using a telescope near Kislovodsk, Russia, that is part of the International Scientific Optical Network, or ISON.
Officially named C/2012 S, ISON was 585 million miles away at the time.
The glare of the sun has blocked most ground-based observations, but NASA has a fleet of spacecraft watching as ISON plunges toward the sun.