2013 Comet ISON: Watch NASA STEREO-A Spacecraft's Captured Video on Comet ISON, 'Comet of the Century' Tails Shown in Hyper Suprime-Cam Photo

The latest video on the 2013 Comet ISON comes from NASA's STEREO-A Spacecraft that shows the dubbed "Comet of the Century" heading towards its closest approach to the Sun on Thursday, November 28. Additionally, the Astronomy Magazine report shows Comet ISON's tails in the photo that the Hyper Suprime-Cam captured.

"The video captured by Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO-A spacecraft's Heliospherice Imager shows the Comet ISON, Mercury, Comet Encke and Earth over a five-day period from November 20 to November 25, 2013. The sun is seen to the right of the field of view of the camera," the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) wrote as a description to the captured video.

Meanwhile, the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) in the Subaru Telescope Facility in Hilo, Hawaii was able to capture an image of Comet ISON's tails that extend over 1° from the Sun in the early morning of November 5. "Despite the challenges of tracking this comet, we were very happy to see the tails clearly shown in the image. We are delighted that we can share this image, which proves that HSC is capable of capturing images of solar system objects," Satoshi Miyazaki from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) stated.

According to the USA Today report, Comet ISON will be skimming approximately 1:30 p.m. ET at 1 million miles from the solar surface. Scientists and astronomers are now waiting to find out what the fate of the comet will be during this close flyby to the Sun, whether the celestial object remains intact or fall to pieces.

"It could very well turn out to be really awesome. Or it could all turn out to be a big disappointment," astronomer Yan Fernandez of the University of Central Florida weighed in. Kevin Walsh, the theoretical astronomer of the Southwest Research Institute declared that comets always have the capability to give an element of surprise.

"Whether the show will be ho-hum or spectacular probably won't be known until three or four days after Thanksgiving," Mr Walsh stated. He further added that if Comet ISON disintegrates, sky watchers can still see from the backyard its big pieces that split up.

Comet ISON observer Carey Lisse of the Applied Physics Laboratory agrees. During a briefing at NASA on Tuesday, the observer stated: "Its demise could create a beautiful paintbrush swath on the sky."

More Articles to Read:

2013 Comet ISON: 'Comet of the Century' Now Visible in Binoculars? Captured Photo Show Comet ISON's Two Tails - [READ]

2013 Comet ISON: NASA's MESSENGER Spacecraft Detect and Capture Images of Comet ISON and Encke - [READ]

2013 Comet ISON: Where to Best View 'Comet of the Century' on November 28 - [READ]