NASA Spacecraft Snaps First Images of Comet ISON

NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft has captured the first images of comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), which is all set to pass close to the sun later this year.

The spacecraft snapped pictures of comet ISON Jan. 17 and 18, 2013, from a distance of 493 million miles. ISON has already formed a glowing dusty ball, stretching some 40,000 miles from the comet's body, reports Discovery News.

The comet is expected to be the brightest of all comets since 1965. It is projected that ISON might appear brighter than a full moon that could be seen even in daylight.

"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," Tim Larson, project manager for the Deep Impact spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement.

"The distance limits our bandwidth, so it's a little like communicating through a modem after being used to DSL. But we're going to coordinate our science collection and playback so we maximize our return on this potentially spectacular comet."

ISON was discovered Sept. 21 by two Russian astronomers - Artyom Novichonok and Vitali Nevski - using a 16-inch (40-centimeter) telescope belonging to the International Scientific Optical Network, near Kislovodsk in Russia.

The comet is believed to be arriving from the Oort cloud, a massive spherical cloud of rocks and ice surrounding our solar system. Oort cloud is believed to be the home of comets orbiting the sun at a great distance.

ISON is likely to make its closest approach to the sun Nov. 28, when it approaches within 800,000 miles (1.2 million km) of the star's surface. When it passes close to the sun, the icy body of the comet might fade or break apart. If it survives the approach, the comet could provide a spectacular celestial sight, reports Space.com.

The comet will not pose any threat to Earth, as it makes its approach no closer than about 40 million miles on Dec. 26, 2013, according to NASA scientists.