Comet ISON's Apparent Size Now Larger Than The Moon!

As Comet ISON gets closer to the Sun and the Earth, its apparent size in the sky has dramatically increased.  Check out the animated GIF image below that shows Comet ISON on October 7th, Oct 15th, Oct 25th and Nov 3rd, 2013.  All images were acquired by me with the same equipment and are presented at the same crop size from the original images.

Comet ISON, October 7th, 2013 to November 3rd, 2013

The latest measurements of the last image in the sequence indicate that Comet ISON is about 40 arc-minutes in size.  The Moon is about 30 arc-minutes in size (about half a degree) on average as a comparison.  The comet still has room to grow since it is still getting closer to the Sun and increasing in size due to increased activity. The Earth and ISON are getting closer to each other as our orbit brings us nearer to it as it heads in for its rendezvous with the Sun.  ISON has already crossed Earth’s orbit on November 1st, 2013 and is now closer to the Sun than we are.  It was way ahead of us and we won’t get to the spot where it crossed our orbit until January 14th, 2014.

Comet ISON on November 3rd, 2013 Compared to 1st Quarter Moon (Simulation)

There is speculation that the debris ISON leaves behind will cause a meteor shower in January, but don’t hold your breath for that one.  Its more likely that the tiny dust particles will just float on down since they’re too small to produce friction with our atmosphere.  But, hey, you never know.  I guess it would be wise to keep your eyes peeled on that date, just in case.