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IRON AND ICE
First-Ever View of a Sungrazer Comet In Front of the Sun
by Karen C. Fox - NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 11, 2011


A "sun grazing" comet as caught by SOHO's LASCO C2 camera as it dived toward the sun on July 5 and July 6, 2011. SOHO is the overwhelming leader in spotting sungrazers, with over 2000 spotted to date, aided by the fact that the sun's bright light is itself blocked out by a coronograph. Credit: SOHO (ESA and NASA) Full size image

On the evening of Tuesday, July 5, a comet flew into the sun. Such comets are not unusual, and they're called "sungrazers" since they come so close to the star that it is believed they evaporate and disappear. However, no one has actually seen the end of that journey, since the comets are best seen in cameras from SOHO (SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory) that block out the bright disk of the sun itself.

But this was different. For the first time ever, SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) captured a 20-minute movie of the comet streaking directly in front of the sun. It's not immediately obvious, but if you watch the movie closely, you'll see a line of light appear in the right and move across to the left.

At its most basic, the movie has scientists excited since it's a "first," but additional analysis of the data may hold more clues about the fate of the comet. Most likely, given the intense heat and radiation, the comet simply evaporated away completely.

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IRON AND ICE
New comet could put on 2013 show
Hana, Hawaii (UPI) Jun 28, 2011
U.S. scientists say a newly discovered comet could provide an astronomical spectacle when it swings through the solar system in 2013. The comet was detected by the asteroid-hunting Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii, which spotted the distant cosmic snowball in the overnight hours of June 5-6, SPACE.com reported. Some astronomers have suggested it could become the celestial sight o ... read more


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