Camille Flammarion on Amateur Astronomy - Comet ISON

Using my Kindle I have been reading a bit of "Astronomy for Amateurs" by Flammarion published in 1910. This is how he  sums it up:

"What greater delight can be conceived, on a fine spring evening, at the hour when the crescent moon is shining in the West amid the last glimmer of twilight, than the contemplation of that grand and silent spectacle of the stars stepping forth in sequence in the vast Heavens? All sounds of life die out upon the earth, the last notes of the sleepy birds have sunk away, the Angelus of the church hard by has rung the close of day. But if life is arrested around us, we may seek it in the Heavens. These incandescing orbs are so many points of interrogation suspended above our heads in the inaccessible depths of space.... Gradually they multiply. There is Venus, the white star of the shepherd. There Mars, the little celestial world so near our own. There the giant Jupiter. The seven stars of the Great Bear seem to point out the pole, while they slowly revolve around it.... What is this nebulous light that blanches the darkness of the heavens, and traverses the constellations like a celestial path? It is the Galaxy, the Milky Way, composed of millions on millions of suns!... The darkness is profound, the abyss immense.... See! Yonder a shooting star glides silently across the sky, and disappears!..."

On the subject of Comets Flammarion says:

"Glittering, swift-footed heralds of Immensity, these comets with golden wings glide lightly through Space, shedding a momentary illumination by their presence. Whence come they? Whither are they bound?

What problems they propound to us, when, as in some beautiful display of pyrotechnics, the arch of Heaven is illuminated with their fantastic light!"

There is an image of the Great Comet of 1858 in the book.

Of course we were all waiting for the "Great Comet of 2013" - otherwise known as Comet ISON

However in reality it was the great disappointment of 2013 as it did not perform as we hoped.

I took this image remotely of ISON in 2012.

This shows its movement over 2 hours:

This is a very brief ISON video of Comet ISON from Hubble.

and this one shows it passing the Sun

NASA Description:

Published on 29 Nov 2013

"Continuing a history of surprising behavior, material from Comet ISON appeared on the other side of the sun on the evening on Nov. 28, 2013, despite not having been seen in observations during its closest approach to the sun.

This movie shows Comet ISON orbiting around the sun -- represented by the white circle -- and covers Nov. 27, 2013, 3:30 p.m. EST, to Nov. 29, 2013, 8:30 a.m. EST. ISON looks smaller as it streams away, but scientists believe its nucleus may still be intact."