NASA Hosts Nov. 26 Teleconference and Nov. 28 Hangout to Discuss Comet Nearing Sun

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Nov 25, 2013, 06:40 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will host a media teleconference Tuesday, Nov. 26 and a Google+ Hangout Thursday, Nov. 28 to discuss Comet ISON's journey through our solar system and what the public worldwide may see in the coming days as the comet traverses the sun on Thanksgiving Day.

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Discovered in late 2012, ISON will pass within 684,000 miles of the sun. The comet may contain the same fundamental building blocks that led to the formation of life on Earth about 3.5 billion years ago.

The media teleconference starts at 1 p.m. EST Tuesday. The participants are:

Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington
Michael Garcia, program scientist, Astrophysics Division, Headquarters
Carey Lisse, senior research scientist, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
Karl Battams, astrophysicist, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington

Media interested in participating in the teleconference should call 888-946-7605. International media should call 1-630-395-0440. The passcode is "comet."

Audio replays of the teleconference will be available until Friday, Nov. 29 by calling toll free at 888-566-0574. International media should call 402-998-0680.

NASA also will host a Google+ Hangout from 1-3:30 p.m. EST Thursday as scientists follow the journey of Comet ISON while it slingshots around the sun. Watch and ask questions as NASA solar physicists track the comet live from the mission control for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft during ISON's closest approach to the sun.

The Hangout will be broadcast publicly on NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's YouTube and Google+ pages. The Hangout also will be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Panelists for the Google+ Hangout are:

C. Alex Young, solar physicist, associate director for Science in the Heliophysics Science Division and co-founder of The Sun Today - Goddard
W. Dean Pesnell, solar physicist and project scientist for the Solar Dynamics Observatory - Goddard
Karl Battams, comet scientist for the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington and solar spacecraft lead for NASA's Comet ISON Observing Campaign, joining from Kitt Peak Observatory in Ariz., where the solar telescope will be observing ISON
Phil Plait, writes Slate's 'Bad Astronomy' blog and is an astronomer, science evangelizer and author of the books "Bad Astronomy" and "Death from the Skies!"

NASA scientists will answer the public's questions live on air on Google+, in the YouTube comments section during the live broadcast, or via Twitter using #ISON and #askNASA.

Journalists who want to ask questions by phone during this Google+ Hangout must provide their media affiliation information to Aries Keck at 301-286-4435 or [email protected] by noon Thursday.

To join the Hangout, visit:
http://go.nasa.gov/IiODhs

Live audio of the teleconference will be streamed at:
http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Supporting information will be available online just before Tuesday teleconference at:
http://www.nasa.gov/sunearth

For more information about Comet ISON, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ison

SOURCE NASA