Nasas Stereo Spacecraft Spots Comets Ison And Encke
Comet ISON entered the STEREO scene with Encke on Nov. 21 (Credit: Karl Battams/NASA/STEREO/CIOC)

As comets ISON and Encke continue toward their respective rendezvous with the Sun, they have now both been captured on camera by NASA's solar-observing STEREO spacecraft. The image above, taken on Nov. 21 (UT) with STEREO-A's high-resolution HI-1 camera, shows ISON as it enters the field of view from the left. Encke is at center, while the planets Mercury and Earth (labeled) are bright enough to cause vertical disruptions in the imaging sensors. (The Sun is off frame to the right.)

As cool as this image is, it gets even better: "THERE'S A VIDEO VERSION." Check it out below:

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Read the rest of NASA's STEREO Spacecraft Spots Comets ISON and Encke (161 words)

(c) Jason Major for Universe Today, 2013.
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Post tags: comet, Earth, Encke, ISON, Mars, NASA, orbit, perihelion, STEREO, sun, video

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