It promises to be the brightest in the history of observations and the Eclipse of the moon.

Recently discovered two by Amateur astronomers, the comet will demonstrate unprecedented heavenly shows, starting from 28 November 2013, when the heavenly body will be held at a distance of less than two million kilometres from the Sun, on an astronomical scale, it was very close. If the forecasts come true, the comet will become one of the largest in the history of mankind and will surpass the brightness of these heavenly bodies, as comet Hale-BOPP in 1997 and Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4), which can be seen on the sky in March 2013.

New comet, named C/2012 S1 (ISON), was detected International scientific-optic network in Russia on September 21, when astronomers Vitaly Nevsky (Petrozavodsk, Russia) and Artem Novichonok from Belarus captures her with Amateur 0,4-meter reflector. Then to the observation unusual celestial body was joined by professional astronomers.

They noticed that in behaviour and physical appearance of the comet much in common with the so-called Great comet, passing near the Earth in 1680.

Nearly parabolic orbit ISON indicates that it flew in from the Oort Cloud is a huge region of icy objects orbiting in an orbit of the Sun, pristine remnants of the Solar system. Astronomers believe that there are countless. Now the comet is located in the North-Western corner of the constellation Cancer. When a star the size +18 now she is too faint to see with the naked eye. This Thrifty comet already had a tail, notable for astronomical observations. As it approaches the Sun, the core of the heavenly guest will warm up, and one day it will be able to see, even in the Northern hemisphere without any optical devices. The unusual brightness spectacle will last at least two months, astronomers believe. By the Earth, the comet will pass in the end of December 2013 early January 2014. By itself, the question arises: is it not dangerous such close neighbourhood to the inhabitants of the Blue planet?

It will be interesting

"The minimum distance to it will be 0,42 astronomical unit is almost 62 million kilometers, - said Yuri Zaitsev, senior researcher of the Institute of space research. - Less than half the distance from the earth to the Sun, but far enough not to be afraid of conflict. However, not all astronomers are confident that the comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) will remain. It is not excluded that on the approach to the Sun it will collapse, as was destroyed in August of last year comet Elenin (C/2010 X1), open Leonid Leninym in 2010.
"While we can only guess, how will the events develop," said Karl Bettens - representative of the project Sungrazer Comet Project, supported by NASA.

And comet researcher John Bartl, first podmetili that the trajectory of the new comet suspiciously exactly the same as the one that was the so-called great (or Large) of the comet of 1680 year, suggests that the current and former comets were once one - comet cyclopean size.

The great comet of 1680 quite remarkable. It was the first comet, open-German astronomer Gottfried kirsam using astronomical instrument - telescope. Its brightness and especially the extremely long tail it struck contemporaries, it captured the artists and, in particular, the famous marine painter Love Peters, Vershuer. Scientists believe that it was the first recorded comets family Creutz - in this case it must be periodic, in other words, should from time to time to appear near the Sun. The frequency of comets may be different - from several dozens (as Halley's comet) to several thousand years.

Ice Divo

In order to clarify the nature of comets, there are many hypotheses from the scientific to the fantastic. The founder of the scientific ideas of comets was Edmund Halley, which is calculated and published in 1705 orbit 24 comets and drew attention to the similarity parameters some of them. From ancient times to our days noticed and described about 2000 comets. It turned out that most comets moving ellipses, moderately or severely stretched. When approaching the Sun, the comet forms the tail is composed of gas and dust, and to whom, which means it is not a life-threatening condition, and misty sheath surrounding the comet nucleus. Flows of the sun's rays beat the gas particles from the coma and drop them back, pulling in a long smoky tail, which moves it in space.

The theory of tailings and forms of comets has developed in the late nineteenth century English astronomer Fyodor Bredikhin (1831-1904). He is also the author and classification of comet tails, used in modern astronomy. A comprehensive idea of the comets astronomers have its successful "visits" in 1986 to comet Halley spacecraft "VEGA-1" and "VEGA-2" and the European "Giotto". Numerous instruments installed on these machines, conveyed to Earth image of the comet's nucleus and a variety of information about its shell. It turned out that the nucleus of Halley's comet is composed mainly of ice (with small inclusions of carbon dioxide and methane ice)and dust particles. They form the shell of comets, and closer to the Sun some of them - under the pressure of sunlight and the solar wind - goes into a tail.

As shown by spectroscopic observations, the glow of the membranes of the head of the comet and tail creates the gas molecules and dust. The head and tail of the comet is completely transparent. When the comet is between the Earth and a star, that star light comes to us without the slightest weakening.

So, gases and dust in the comet is extremely sparse. Even at close approaches of comets with small planets of terrestrial group never failed to notice the change of movement of the planet under the influence of gravity of the comet. F. A. Bredikhin, studying the tails of comets, assumed that ottalkivayas the action of the Sun, leading to the appearance of comet tails, is electrical in nature. This view was first suggested M. Century Lomonosov, who wrote about comets: "... the pale radiance and tails reason dissatisfied yet to be discovered, which I undoubtedly believe in the electric power". This comet remain for scientists big mystery.

The carriers of life

In particular, remains misunderstood phenomenon of the so-called subcortical explosions. In Earth's orbit a comet gets into a zone of intense heat. The kernel at the same time losing every second ton of their weight. And suddenly happens as if the explosion deep mines. Inexplicable forces evaporated at the depth of the huge amounts of ice and throw a huge amount of gas over a distance of several tens of thousands of kilometers.
It is completely unclear why the periodic comets can repeatedly held at the stellar photosphere of the Sun without apparent harm to themselves.

Passing comets near the Sun's surface is usually accompanied by a powerful emissions of the solar matter in the place of "contact" - why, it is also not clear. However, from the moment of perihelion passage of such a bright comet as C/2012 S1, scientists expect extremely interesting phenomena. Perhaps today's comet will shed light on many mysteries of the Universe - in particular, will help to understand the mystery of the origin of life. Because comets many scientists attribute the role of transmitter of life in the Universe - this increasingly popular hypothesis is called the space of panspermia.

The problem of panspermia for many years the main scientific employee (and until last year - Director) of the Paleontological Institute of RAS, academician Alexei Rozanov. It was he who in our country became the ancestor of bacterial paleontology, the science on fossil organisms, booming worldwide. One of the important conclusions, which now comes this science - one that lives, apparently, has not appeared on our planet, and was brought from space.

"Earlier in this hypothesis it is hard to believe, but today more and more supporters, " says academician Rozanov. - Delivery of bacteria carry out the comet. Meteorites, of course, did too. But in this case, the microbes fell to the Ground already dead. We have studied hundreds of fragments of such heavenly phone They can be several billion years, and is much older than the Earth. With the bacteria in these meteorites morphologically indistinguishable from modern, only they are petrified... With comets is another matter. Ice "body" of the comet - water environment in which bacteria were well preserved and could have become "bricks" for the building of the foundations of the future life and the biosphere of our planet".

According to Alexei Rozanov, on bacterial space data is being built modern idea that much on the Blue planet come from space and is much older than her. There is a hypothesis that some of the ice aliens gave impetus earth epidemics, in his time Kosivska entire cities.

This mystery

The question is: if so, where did bacteria in comets? Because it is unlikely they originated in the body tailed adventurer. "Probably, they "lived" on planets that were puddles, marshes, lakes and so on, " says academician Rozanov. - Obviously, the planet and pseudoplane were destroyed, but the fragments of them travelled on outer space, until then, until they came to Earth. There is a view that the Solar system regularly interfere with the flow of substancesand in the Universe.

Perhaps here and meet with live comet meteor"...
Although, of course, all this does not shed light on the main question - where do come from life. Saying that a life could arise, including, on other planets, we are just pushing the problem away from the Earth. We still do not know how it all came out of the primordial soup, could biochemical processes in the Universe to give such a result, what we are seeing now, and if so, how. "The smallest bacteria is much more like a man than a mixture of chemicals, " writes on the subject biology Professor Lynn Margulis. Because bacteria already have the properties of biological systems. Therefore, easier for the bacteria to become a man than a mixture of amino acids to turn into this bacterium".

Because there are more questions than answers, there are other, not very scientific hypothesis of the origin of comets. They, in particular, says that the comet is controlled thermonuclear missiles, by which the Universe and extend life. If so, it is unlikely that in their program laid the destruction of the planets. Although any, even the most sophisticated technology is not immune from failure. In this case, perhaps by accident spacecraft explains the mystery of the Tunguska explosion. One of the many dozens of versions says that this was not a meteorite, and the ice alien ship, in 1908 crashed above the surface of our planet. Where he went mystery, but obviously not for us.

The star of Bethlehem is also comet

Traditionally, the comet was considered the harbingers of a very significant change on the Ground. Leap year 1680 confirms this. At least in Russia. Nearing the culmination deepest internal crisis penalty of Archpriest Avvakum and simultaneous completion of the reign of Fedor Alekseevich. And the ancient peoples linked the appearance of comets, in Greek tailed, shaggy celestial bodies, with possible disasters on the planet. To their appearance in the sky treated with the Holy horror. They worshipped, and gave the names and sacrificed unto them. The famous researcher of the last century, Immanuel Velikovsky has developed and confirmed by mathematical calculations elegant hypothesis that once Venus, escaped from the depths of Jupiter, was a comet, and it is approaching the Earth is described in the ancient sources of the Babylonians and Sumerians.

"Tailed beast" inevitably threatening the Earth, but 35 centuries ago on her way got belligerent Mars to protect our planet from global destruction. For astrophysicists have not news that the vast Northern basin of the red planet, covering 40% of its surface, is followed by a blow on Mars body comparable to a small planet. "It was, apparently, at that time, when life on Earth already existed, believes leading researcher IKI RAS Igor Mitrofanov. - In the life, if it were, on the red planet died. Today's exploration of Mars suggest that this version is absolutely justified. It remains to find and explore the fragments of the Martian DNA, which we are doing now with the help of Russian DAN instrument, part of the American Rovers Curiosity".

With a span of comets near our planet is associated with many legends. Russian researcher A. I. Reznikov made an interesting attempt to find a correlation between the Christian legend of the Christmas and the appearance in the sky of the star of Bethlehem with some events of that time, when it was seen Halley's comet. The author managed to identify a number of items (for example, since at that time the uprising Trachonitis), which speak in favor of its assumptions. In other words, astrophysics and historical point of view, the time when according to the Holy Tradition was born the Christ child, coincided with the appearance of the sky of Halley's comet, and it became a kind of a happy harbinger for humanity.

Comet Halley is the harbinger of Chernobyl

It was not always. With the appearance of Halley's comet link bloody wars and destructive earthquakes, floods and epidemics, claiming thousands of lives. The last time the comet was approaching the Earth in 1986, and it was noted as one of the strongest environmental disasters on Earth - the nuclear accident in Chernobyl. However, whether one with another unknown. However, it is difficult to consider the usual coincidence biblical prophecy about fallen from the sky a star by the name of Chernobyl. It seems that came to pass the warning of the Apostle John: "the Third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, blazing like a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of this star the Wormwood "(in Ukrainian Chernobyl - author), and the third part of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter."

Rather ominous looks and mentioned by Plato comet Typhon, which became, in his opinion, the forerunner of destruction of Atlantis.

The appearance of this comet, according to Plato, was identified themselves Sky into force of the features of some of the stars to evade his way and fall to the Ground, hitting all their fire. Recently, the words of philosopher confirmed his research Professor of Geology, University of Vienna Alexander Tollmann. Trying to explain the high content in marine sediments, the glaciers of Antarctica and Greenland dust and volcanic ash by the age of about 12 thousand years of "perestroika" landscapes of Europe, Asia and America, he studied the ancient folklore of peoples and established close ties geological facts with existing to this day tradition from the great disaster. Perhaps the death of Atlantis - similar to the Tunguska explosion, but only in the first case under the water went a whole civilization, and the second blow was possible to take. Randomness is it, and if not, who and why did all this is a separate conversation.
The nucleus of the comet, which eclipsed the light of the Sun," according to Tollmann, had no less than three kilometers in diameter, and when entering the Earth's atmosphere, it broke up into seven large and a few small parts that fell upon the surface of the planet. A place of falling of fragments prompted Indian, Chinese, Central American and yenotaevsky tales "fell from the sky death" - "red hot rain". Their drop - vitreous tektites on the coast of the Tasman and South China sea, Vietnam, Australia and the Indian ocean Islands - enabled Tollmann Dating disaster 10-12-th thousands of years.

Cosmic body fell with a thunderous roar, bright flashes, calling upon impact "fire mountain", "the flame to the heavens," multiple earthquakes. Assessment Tollmann, seven fatal strikes provoked the earthquake 400 times stronger than modern. Then woke up the volcanoes. Smoke from forest fires mixed with volcanic ash. The air temperature rose to 70 C (by moving the tornadoes hot streams). About a month later, there was a great darkness". Simultaneously with it on land fell from the sky continuous downpours caused by melting glaciers. As defined geologists on limestone rocks that time, humans and animals poured acid rains ("the water was bitter wormwood"). Because of nitric acid were "blood rain".
Catastrophic rise in Global sea level was accompanied by a tsunami wave height up to 100 m filled continents, spreading far from the coast.

For example, in the famous Shanidar cave, located at a height of 750 m in the mountains of Kurdistan, cultural layers can be traced over 100 thousand years. But at the level of 10 thousand years BC traces of people disappear, giving place to marine sediments mixed with stones hanging from the ceiling of the cave as a result of earthquakes. Only after five thousand years of cultural layer appears again - just in time for appropriate, according to the Christian chronology, the creation of the world (for 5508 BC). Tollmann saw this as an analogy with verses of the first Chapter of Genesis, how slow revival of the Earth after the great disaster.

Russian geophysicist, doctor of geological-mineralogical Sciences, principal researcher of the Institute of Oceanology. Shirshov RAS Alexander Gorodnitsky, no less famous as a singer and songwriter from the "generation of the sixties", a lot of years engaged in search of Atlantis and not for a moment doubt that this country existed in reality. It is indicated by many historical and geological facts. "From the standpoint of modern geological science I emphasized the historical reality of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the World flood, tsunami, utopischer Pharaoh's army, the ten plagues, and so on, " says Alexander Gorodnitsky. - In my builds, I rely on the theory of tectonics of lithospheric plates".

Gorodnitsky does not exclude comet version of the destruction of Atlantis, and other major historical events with the appearance of periodic comets. In addition to the astrophysical predictions, which would help to calculate the trajectory of another heavenly guest, he advises to read biblical texts. "In many parts they are completely documented describe the events that occurred on our planet, " he says. - The closer we'll study them, the more unexpected discoveries they will present".

NATALIA LESKOV