Sky gazers are going gaga over Comet ISON, which has been dubbed the comet of the century.
Astronomers are hoping that on December 3, Comet ISON will appear on the eastern horizon and if we're lucky then we may be able to witness one of the most stunning sights in the night sky to occur in a generation or perhaps, more.
"It's looking pretty wonderful, to be honest," Karl Battams, a Naval Research Laboratory astrophysicist who's part of the NASA Comet ISON Observing Campaign, said. "It's behaving in terms of its brightness pretty much how we thought it would back in February."
For the entire December, million of people in the northern hemisphere will be able to witness the comet's tail, which is several kilometers ling and stretches across the dawn sky.
So what makes ISON so special? It is a "sungrazer," which basically means that while several comets pass through the Solar System each decade, few pass through the Sun's corona and ISON is set to do just that.
The comet's passage through the corona will happen on November 28 and it will be watched with great attention by astronomers across the globe.
At this juncture, it is not known what effect the heat and gravitational pull of the Sun will have on ISON. The encounter may cause ISON to explode or break up completely; however, in the event it survives, it could light up the December sky.
"I'm feeling comfortable saying that we're going to have a nice night-sky object in December," said Battams.
NASA is apparently planning a Google+ Hangout which is titled "Fire vs. ISON" which will monitor the comet's swing around the sun on November 28 from 1 to 3.30pm ET. To check it out, head here.
Check out Comet ISON as seen from the Canary Islands' Teide Observatory in the video below.
