14 DAY TRIAL // The NASA MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft was recently able to collect images of both Comet Encke and Comet C/2012 S1, also known as ISON. The objects were seen during their respective points of closest approach to Mercury.
Comet Encke, seen here in the left segment of the image, was imaged with the MESSENGER Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) instrument as it was flying around 3.7 million kilometers (2.3 million miles) away from the solar system's innermost planet, on November 18.
Comet ISON (right) was imaged on November 19, as it was flying more than 36.2 million kilometers (22.5 million miles) aware from Mercury. ISON is scheduled to reach perihelion, its point of closest approach to the Sun, on November 28, PhysOrg reports.
NASA experts also used the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) and X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS) instruments on MESSENGER to investigate the comets as they approached Mercury. The data are now being analyzed, and will most likely to published soon.