'Comet of the Century'; NASA Captures Comet ISON Images, Expected to Light Sky in November [PHOTO]
NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft captured its first photos of comet ISON which could possibly be the "comet of the century" when it will appear to stargazers this November with a very bright display.
The images were taken by the space probe from around 493 million miles away which required the NASA craft to use its Medium-Resolution Imager over a 36-hour period on 17 and 18 January.
NASA put together a time-lapse video from the images collected showing the bright ice and dust ball moving through space.
Deep Impact project manager Tim Larson, of NASA's Pasadena, Calif. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, released a statement on Tuesday that described the space probe's success: "This is the fourth comet on which we have performed science observations and the farthest point from Earth from which we've tried to transmit data on a comet."
ISON, officially named C/2012 S1, is currently passing near Jupiter with a strong brightness visible to scientists even at its far distance. This has led to the belief that it may grow into one of the brightest comets ever seen which enforces the "comet of the century claim."
The comet will sprout a massive tail as it nears the sun in November, potentially making it bright enough to see during the day. It may even continue to be visibly shinning until December.
ISON is expected to pass within 1.1 million miles away from the Sun and its bright glow may even outshine a full moon, according to NBC News.
Scientists predict that the comet will stay far away from Earth with its closest approach to take place on Dec. 26 at a distance of 40 million miles, which is approximately half the distance separating Earth from the Sun.
Comet ISON was first discovered in September 2012 and is currently visible only with a powerful telescope.
