Comet ISON will shortly appear in images from our suite of Sun-watching instruments available via the Helioviewer Project. It has already been seen in images from the Heliospheric Imager onboard STEREO.

Comet ISON will first appear in LASCO C3 at 02:00 UT on Wednesday 27th November, and will appear in the LASCO C2 field-of-view at 13:00 UT on Thursday 28th November.

Path of COMET ISON as seen from SOHO LASCO C2 and C3 coronagraphs.

The comet will exit the LASCO C2 field of view at C2 field-of-view at 23:00 UT on Thursday November 28, and the C3 field-of-view at 23:00 UT on Friday, 29th November.

Comet ISON will also move in to the SDO field of view. SDO is taking special observations of the passage of the comet in order to learn more about what happens to a comet so close to the Sun. You’ll be able to see some of the latest available images from SDO at http://cometison.gsfc.nasa.gov/#.

Please note that images will not be available precisely the times mentioned here since it takes time for the data to be downloaded from their spacecraft and processed on the ground. We will endeavor to ensure that all out users will be able to see this rare event