Can comets trigger a solar eruption?
Well, it seems like the giant solar storm on August 20 2013 may have been created by a comet colliding with our star! Amazing!
This awesome video comes from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and shows what looks to be a comet (not ISON) on a trajectory that will likely lead it right into the sun. Maybe it’s just me, but as soon as the comet disappears, the sun explodes! Look by yourself!
According to Spaceweather scientists, sundiving comets cannot trigger solar explosions. Actually, they are not so sure about it:
[quote_box_center]There’s no known mechanism for comets to spark solar flares. Comets are thought to be too small and fragile to destabilize the sun’s magnetic field. Plus, this comet was still millions of kilometers from the sun when the explosion unfolded.
The comet, R.I.P., was a member of the Kreutz family. Kreutz sungrazers are fragments from the breakup of a single giant comet many centuries ago. They get their name from 19th century German astronomer Heinrich Kreutz, who studied them in detail. Several Kreutz fragments pass by the sun and disintegrate every day. Most, measuring less than a few meters across, are too small to see, but occasionally a bigger fragment like this one attracts attention.[/quote_box_center]
The first time ever a comet was recorded desintegrating in the Sun’s atmosphere was in July 2011. Here is the video:
Yes, this is really cool!
Was this weird elongated object near the sun a comet?
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