[meteorite-list] NASA Hosts Nov. 26 Teleconference and Nov. 28 Hangout to Discuss Comet ISON Nearing Sun

[Ron Baalke]

November 25, 2013

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov 

Geoff Brown
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
240-228-5618
geoffrey.brown at jhuapl.edu 
     
MEDIA ADVISORY M13-187
     
NASA Hosts Nov. 26 Teleconference and Nov. 28 Hangout to Discuss Comet  
Nearing Sun

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.

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 aries.keck at nasa.govby 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's  
teleconference at:

http://www.nasa.gov/sunearth 

For more information about Comet ISON, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ison 

-end-