The comet is fast approaching the sun, getting ready for the show

Oct 26, 2013 14:11 GMT  ·  By

The comet ISON is continuing its fast approach to the sun. It should be going around it at the end of the year and create a wonderful spectacle, unless it gets destroyed in the process.

Already, the photos we've seen so far of the comet are quite spectacular. Their green tint only contributes to the beauty.

But you may have wondered why does the comet glow with the greenish light. As you might have presumed, it has to do with the chemical makeup of the comet and its reaction to the sun's increasingly strong radiation, as it gets closer to the center of the solar system.

"ISON’s green color comes from the gases surrounding its icy nucleus," SpaceWeather.com’s Tony Phillips told Universe Today.

"Jets spewing from the comet’s core probably contain cyanogen (CN: a poisonous gas found in many comets) and diatomic carbon (C2). Both substances glow green when illuminated by sunlight in the near-vacuum of space," he explained.

Comet ISON (3 Images)

Comet ISON seen in recent weeks
Hubble shows a bluer tintISON with spectral data
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