Comet ISON- Alive or Dead?

It was reported last night by the BBC that Comet ISON has been "destroyed" by the sun as it transited close to the surface through its corona. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25143861. However other astronomers have stated: "ISON is alive!", see: http://twitpic.com/dmxc0i. And a few hours later the BBC raised hopes as well: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25143861. However it has no doubt shrivelled badly as it was roasted by the 35 million degree temperatures of the solar corona. I've been covering the story of Comet ISON in my space weather reports on HPANWO Radio, see Links column. Comet C/2012/S1, known as "ISON", was discovered by two Belorussian astronomers on September the 21st last year. It's a rare type of comet, "sungrazing" comets, as they are known, which tend to shine very brightly. It was hoped that ISON would be the "Comet of the Century" by December, dominating the early morning skies and even temporarily outshining the full moon. Will this happen? We don't know yet. Some experts have sounded its death knell and others are celebrating its survival.

Comets are some of the most enigmatic objects in the universe, descending on the inner solar system from deep interstellar space, moving faster than any other natural object we know of. What they are made of is still hotly disputed and there are several theories. When they're deep out in space they're frozen solid but when they approach the sun they start to emit huge amounts of material that form the comet's "tail". These tails can be hundreds of millions of miles long and almost as wide. They're sometimes plainly visible in the night's sky; however comets' nuclei are usually only a few miles across. The most popular theory is that comets are "dirty snowballs", made of a mixture of rock and ice and that when the comet is heated up by the sun the ice melts and evaporates releasing vapour and dust. But is that true? It amazes me how such a small object can produce such a huge tail. The Earth even passes through the tails of comets and this causes a shower of tiny meteors. According to Prof. Chandra Wickramasinghe comets contain living organisms and are part of his theory of Panspermia, the extraordinary idea that organic matter can travel through space by natural means. Prof. Wickramasinghe spoke at the latest Exopolitics conference, see: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/exopolitics-2013-astrobiology.html. He was also interviewed on Planet X, see: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/ben-emlyn-jones-on-planet-x-radio-2.html. Apparently the Earth is due to pass through the tail of Comet ISON which means extraterrestrial living organisms could be dumped onto our planet. According to the professor this is what caused the "red rain" incident in Sri Lanka, see: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/24/alien-rain-unexplained-files_n_3982523.html. Could the material being ejected from comets even be interdimensional? Could it be that comets are like black holes, according to the radical hypothesis of Dr Manjir Samanta-Laughton, see: http://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/programme-13-podcast-manjir-samanta.html.

The recent events surrounding Comet ISON have affected me personally in a way I didn't expect. I was quite surprised how emotional I became when I was watching the news reports, waiting for ISON to emerge from the far side of the sun's disk. When I first posted about it on Facebook somebody commented on my post: "I'm willing her to survive." Her? Reading somebody referring to the comet with a living pronoun made me feel strangely passionate about its plight. I'm not a major enthusiast for astrology, but I do respect the notion and take it seriously. If everything in the universe has consciousness than can anything be truly described as inanimate? Even a comet? Am I just relapsing into a sentimental child-like animism? Maybe not. Many ancient pre-Illuminati cultures imparted spirits on rocks, rivers, lakes and heavenly bodies. The ancient Greeks saw living and potent gods and goddesses in the planets; Jupiter was Zeus, Saturn Chronos, Venus Aphrodite, Mercury Hermes, Mars Ares, etc. I did feel genuine relief when I read that ISON was "alive", and genuine sadness when the BBC reported that it had been destroyed; almost a sense of grief. The rollercoaster then did another loop at the third story this morning. Hopefully, this brave little comet has prevailed and will decorate the night's sky with her light soon.