The National Science Foundation (NSF) launches the 2013 Comet ISON photo contest for the amateur astronomers now that the "Comet of the Century" is visible while heading towards its close approach with the Sun.

The NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences together with the Astronomy and Discover magazines will be conducting the photo contest for the captured Comet ISON images with the cash prizes up to $2500. Additionally, the winning images will be published in the Astronomy magazine.

The amateur astronomers are continuously capturing images of the approaching Comet ISON to observe and record the space phenomenon and the news about the photo contest with a cash prize sounds a pretty good additional bonus for them.

John Chumack, a veteran astrophotographer, captured new images of the Comet ISON and shared them at Web site SPACE.com. "Comet ISON is going strong! I will be imaging the comet every clear night I get through Perihelion Passage, on Nov. 28, and throughout December and January," Mr Chumack wrote to SPACE.com via an email message.

Chumack's shared images were captured in the morning of Wednesday, October 9, at the John Bryan State Park in Yellow Springs, Ohio, using a QHY8 cooled single shot color CCD camera and his homemade 16-inch diameter F4.5 Newton telescope. The astrophotographer further added: "I'm excited to see what comet ISON will do in the next 60 days."

According to the Space.com report, the 2013 Comet ISON will be making its closest approach to the Sun on November 28 passing inside of the solar surface at 730,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers). The report further reads: "Some astronomers had predicted the icy body would break up before then, but recent photos of Comet ISON by the Hubble Space Telescope suggest that it has remained largely intact during its trip into the inner solar system."

If Comet ISON will be able to endure the solar heat during its close approach in November, sky gazers will be treated to a remarkable display that will shine brightly in the dark night sky. More images on the "Comet of the Century" or the "Christmas Comet" can be viewed at the astrophotography archive of the Space.com Web site.

More Articles to Read:

2013 Comet ISON: Hubble Space Telescope Captured an Intact 'Comet of the Century' - [READ]

2013 Comet ISON: 'Comet of the Century' to Shine Brightly by End of October, Amateur Astronomers Share Captured Images of Comet ISON [PHOTOS] - [READ]

2013 Comet ISON: Close Approach to Sun Unlikely Ends 'Comet of the Century' -- Says Scientists' Study at Lowell Observatory and Southwest Research Institute - [READ]

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