Explanation:
Did a sun-diving comet just cause a solar explosion?
Probably not.
This past weekend a comet dove toward the Sun and was followed very quickly by a
Coronal Mass Ejection (CMEs) from the other side of the Sun.
The first two sequences in the
above video shows the spectacular
unfolding of events as seen by the Sun-orbiting
SOHO satellite, while the
same events were
alsocaptured by both Sun-orbiting
STEREO satellites.
Now sungrazer comets that break up as they pass near the Sun are not all that rare
--
hundreds have been cataloged
over the past few years.
CMEs are even more common, with perhaps three lesser
events occurring even during the eight hours of the above time-lapse movie.
Therefore, the
best bet of solar scientists is that the two events were
unrelated.
Another basis for this judgment is that CMEs are caused by rapid changes in the Sun's
magnetic field, changes that a
small comet seem unlikely to make.
Such coincidences are even more likely during periods of high activity on the Sun's
surface -- like
now.
