Signs In The Heavens

There has been a lot of interest regarding 2013 and some dramatic "signs" we will see - all highly visible in the sky including two comets, one of which is already being called "the comet of the century". There are also some prophetic implications with this - as revealed in the following articles - both are long but fascinating reads. 

Spectacular Heavenly Show Expected This Year

Later this year, Comet ISON will pass through the asteroid belt, enter the Inner Solar System and sidestep Mars on its way past Earth, putting on what scientists expect will be a spectacular heavenly show that is not to be missed.

Astronomers are calling it the “comet of the century.”

Comets offer one of the most spectacular celestial scenes the unaided human eye can see. By November or December, ISON is expected to be brighter than a full moon. Some believe it will be up to 15 times brighter.

While ISON may prove to be brighter than any other comet of the last century, this trip may also be its swan song, as it is projected to end its flight in a fiery death in the sun.

Comets are made of several parts. The core, or nucleus, is a solid snowball of dust and ice. As the comet nears the sun, the nucleus heats up, releasing the mixture of gas, called the coma, and dust, which forms the tail. There is also a plasma ion tail, which can be several hundred million miles long.

Occasionally, a comet is dislodged from its orbit and makes its way toward Earth.

ISON, for the moment, is a faint object, visible only in sophisticated telescopes, but that will change in the next few months.

Comet ISON, currently in the vicinity of Jupiter, was discovered by two Russian amateur astronomers, Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok, using a 16-inch International Scientific Optical Network telescope in Vitebsk, Belarus. The comet possibly came from the Kuiper Belt, a region of icy small bodies beyond Neptune.

British astronomer David Whitehouse, in the London Independent, reports that by the end of summer, it will become visible in small telescopes and binoculars.

By October, the comet will pass close to Mars, and it will start to become exciting. The surface of the comet will begin to shift as it nears the sun. As it continues to warm, the surface will crack, releasing small puffs of gas from its core, forming the comet’s tail. Slowly at first, but with increasing energy, the gas and dust will reflect even more of the sun’s light

By autumn, the view should be remarkable.

Astronomers have calculated that the comet will not impact Earth, however, it will pass less than 800,000 miles away from Earth, making it easily visible.

ISON is also set to outshine “the greatest comet of the last century” – Comet McNaught, which shone brighter than Venus as it passed above the Southern Hemisphere in 1965.

There are reports Comet ISON’s path resembles that of the Great Comet of 1680, which is also called Kirch’s Comet or Newton’s Comet. That comet’s tail was reportedly visible during the day.

The timing of Comet ISON has set the astronomical world abuzz. The comet will be closest to the Earth during a time when the solar system’s star, the sun, will reach the maximum of its 11-year solar cycle.

While the comet will not impact Earth, the solar activity that will light up the comet will also unleash multiple Coronal Mass Ejections, or CME, that project trillions of tons of radioactive material at millions of miles per hour toward Earth.

If a major CME happens when the flare is facing directly toward Earth, satellites risk severe damage and, in some cases, destruction. In a nightmare scenario, a massive solar blast would initiate a cascading series of failures that could severely hamper daily life in today’s information age. Electrical systems would fail, and anything that depends on them — such as food, fuel and energy supply systems — simply would not work. No refrigerators in grocery stores, no pumps at gas stations, no valves controlling flows in dams.

The threat is serious enough that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists are watching these celestial events closely as the sun enters what is called the Solar Max. Government agencies are looking at contingency plans for anything from minor power and communication outages to destruction of global power grids and communications systems.

F. Michael Maloof relates in his book “A Nation Forsaken – EMP: The Escalating Threat of an American Catastrophe” that the effects of a solar maximum can be both spectacular and shattering:

On September 2, 1859, the largest recorded geomagnetic storm dazzled the pre-electronics era with auroras seen around the world. The white-light solar flare was so bright; folks in the northeastern United States could read newspaper just from the light of the aurora. The telegraph system in use all over Europe and North America failed. Telegraph operators were shocked, and telegraph pylons threw sparks, causing telegraph paper to spontaneously catch fire. And when telegraphers disconnected the batteries powering the lines, aurora-induced electric currents in the wires still allowed messages to be transmitted!

ISON might not be the only spectacular comet visible soon. Another comet, called 2014 L4 (PanSTARRS), was discovered last year, and in March and April it could also be a magnificent object in the evening sky.

Comets and other celestial objects have often been regarded as harbingers of events on Earth.

The Star of Bethlehem heralding the birth of Jesus is mentioned in Matthew 2:

Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. (Mt 2:2 KJV)

This celestial event is also thought to be foretold in Numbers 24:17 and Isaiah 60:3. It has historically been explained in three ways: as a major comet; as a planetary conjunction or sequence of conjunctions; or as a supernova.

The first-century Roman historian Josephus, in Book VI, chapter 5 of “The Wars of the Jews,” recorded the arrival of a comet before the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Josephus recounts a heavenly “sign” that was ignored by those without eyes or minds to consider it at the time:

Thus were the miserable people (the Jews of Jerusalem) persuaded by these deceivers (false prophets), and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend nor give credit to the signs [of the heavens] that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation, but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them.

“Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year.”

Biblical prophecies of the Last Days also include celestial events:

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.” (Joel 2:30-31 KJV)

And this article below comes from Jack Kinsella:

The Great Comets Of 2013

Now comes Comet ISON. Comet ISON was discovered by two Russian astronomers last September. Comet ISON comes from the Oort asteroid cloud more than a light year away from earth.

Comet ISON is expected to become visible to the naked eye as early as November, 2013 its newly formed tail stretching far into the sky above the horizon.

What makes Comet ISON especially exciting to astronomers is the fact that ISON is forecast to be some fifteen times brighter than a full moon.
The Comet will be visible with the naked eye from November to the first weeks of January 2014, prompting some astronomers to call it "the Christmas Comet".

Incidentally, Comet ISON is expected to make its appearance at roughly the same time as a hybrid solar eclipse on November 3, 2013.
Both will be visible from Jerusalem.

"And they asked Him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass . . .?"
". . .And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." (Luke 21:7, 25-26)

Of the nine most impressive comets of the past four centuries, five have made their appearance since 1948. One might argue that is because of improved telescopes and other optics, but since ALL of these comets were visible to the naked eye, I don't think that really applies.

2013 is not just the Year of the Comets or the Year of the Christmas Comet. On April 25, there will be a partial lunar eclipse (NASA, pdf). On May 10 there will be an annular solar eclipse. On May 25 a Penumbral Lunar eclipse, and another on October 18.

Right now, the sun is in the middle of Cycle 24, and is due to reach a maximum in 2013. The next cycle would be expected to start in around 2020.
According to NASA’s astro-forecasts, the current solar maximum is likely to unleash a series of massive solar storms, peaking sometime early 2013, after which, solar inactivity is expected to collapse completely, bringing on another period of global cooling.

A powerful enough solar flare hitting the earth head-on would mimic the effect of an EMP pulse on our electrical grid.
Forecasters say that the worst is yet to come. In a worst-case scenario, the world would be instantly plunged into technological darkness that could cause a global blackout that could take years to repair.
The world’s scientists are so confused on the consensus opinion on global warming and solar activity that there IS no consensus opinion, but they are so alarmed that they insist on doing something, even if we don’t know what effect of that “something” might be.

Here is what we do know. In 2013, there will be one solar eclipse and two lunar eclipses.

The sun and the moon. . . check.

At least two comets will make their appearance so brightly as to be seen with the naked eye.

So that's the sun, moon and two 'stars'. Check.

Then there are the signs in the sun, including an unusually quiet solar minimum, followed up by one of the most violent solar maximums since 1858, which many meteorologists and astronomers say accounts for the majority of what the UN and leaders of the free world have renamed "climate change."
"Climate change" is about the third or fourth official name given to what was once dubbed "global warming" since the earth is no longer warming. It was only a few years ago that world leaders gathered in Copenhagen to debate a climate change treaty that nobody could agree upon.

The Copenhagen Conference was supposed to strengthen and codify the 1999 Kyoto Treaty which the US never ratified (and Canada just pulled out from).
The Kyoto Treaty and the Copenhagen Conference were fear-induced efforts by global leaders to fix what is broken before anybody even knows for sure what IS broken.

But sadly for the Copenhagen conference, it turns out that the ice wasn't receding in Antarctica and the dire predictions of the sea reclaiming the world's coastlines were replaced with fears of coastline erosion from climate change-induced hurricanes.

Soooo. . . the sea and the waves roaring. Check.

Finally, the distress (fear) of nations, with perplexity (confusion). Check.
Let's see. . . did we miss anything?

"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28)

My neck hurts.