COMET ISON UPDATE: Reports of naked-eye sightings of Comet ISON
are coming in from around the world. Experienced observers put the
comet's magntitude at +5.5 on Nov. 16th. This means it is now
fully 10 times brighter than it was only three days ago before the
outburst. To the naked eye, ISON appears as a faint smudge of pale
green light low in the pre-dawn sky. The view through a telescope
is more dramatic. The comet's tail has become a riotous crowd of
gaseous streamers stretching more than 3.5 degrees across the sky.
Amateur astronomer Waldemar Skorupa sends this picture from Kahler
Asten, Germany: