The question on whether the 2013 Comet ISON survives its closest approach to the Sun on Thursday, November 28, currently has the sky watchers excitedly waiting to get the answer as the preparations begin in viewing the rare celestial display. In the Live Science report, the general public is given some tips on where to best view the "Comet of the Century."

According to Zolt Levay, the imaging group lead of the public outreach for Baltimore's Space Telescope Science Institute, the best location to have a look at Comet ISON would be at any dark place far away from the bright lights. "With clear sky, lower humidity and a low eastern horizon, with no trees, buildings or mountains in the way," Zolt Levay noted in an email sent to LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.

The group lead further suggested that the best locations would be in the Southwest at higher elevations. "Other locations might be beaches on the Atlantic Coast, away from city lights. This provides an unobstructed view east, although there would be more haze than at a higher, desert location," Zolt Levay stated.

There are several national parks particularly in the West part of the United States that have the ideal conditions in viewing Comet ISON such as dark skies and low humidity. The Great Basin National Park in Nevada and the Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah are open for astronomy viewing year-round since they are situated far from the bright city lights.

A variety of observatories will be offering public viewing as well for the Comet ISON's close flyby to the Sun. It includes the Appalachian State University Dark Sky Observatory that professional astronomers use to conduct their research, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.

For those who wish to view the Comet ISON via the Internet, the Northern Voices Online report suggests that people can simply visit the Slooh Web site and watch the remarkable display online. Scientists were given enough time to prepare in observing Comet ISON when it passes by the Sun with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) setting up the Comet ISON Observation Campaign (CIOC).

Karl Battams of the U.S. Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C. and a part of CIOC stated: "We see sungrazing comets all the time, but they're always very small, and usually we get to see them maybe for a few hours in spacecraft data. In this case, with ISON, we've had well over a year of observing a sungrazing comet. So that helps us build up a picture of its behavior before it becomes a sungrazer, and then we can compare that to its behavior after it has done the sungrazing thing, assuming it survives."

More Articles to Read:

2013 Comet ISON: How to Best View Comet ISON's Closest Flyby to the Sun on November 28 - [READ]

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

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

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