Comet of the Century? Jan. 18, 2013: Out near the orbit of
Jupiter, a faint speck of light is moving through the black of
space. At first glance it doesn't look like much, no brighter
than a thousand distant stars speckling the velvet sky behind
it; indeed, it takes a big telescope make out that it is a
comet. But what a comet it could turn out to be…. Later this
year, "Comet ISON" could blossom into a striking naked eye
object visible even in broad daylight. "Comet ISON is a
sungrazer," explains Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab.
"The orbit of the comet will bring it very close to the sun,
which we know can be a spectacular thing." Russian astronomers
Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok found the comet in Sept.
2012. It bears the name of their night-sky survey program, the
International Scientific Optical Network. As 2013 unfolds, the
comet is still very far away—near the orbit of Jupiter. That's
why it looks like a speck. "But for an object at such extreme
distance, it is actually very bright," says Ba