Comet's 'death by sun' captured for first time

Tariq Malik msnbc.com Tue, 12 Jul 2011 19:34



© NASA / SDO / AIA

The Solar Dynamics Observatory AIA imager (observing in extreme ultraviolet light) actually spotted a sun-grazing comet as it disintegrated over about a 15-minute period on July 6, something never observed before. The angle of the comet's orbit brought it across the front half of the sun. Given the intense heat and radiation, the comet simply evaporated away. The comet was probably a member of the Kreutz sun-grazer family.

Satellite witnesses a 'sun-grazer' hit heat and disintegrate in 15 minutes

The death of a comet that plunged into the sun was captured on camera this month for the first time in history, scientists say.

The comet met its fiery demise on July 6 when it zoomed in from behind the sun and melted into oblivion as it crashed into the star. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), a satellite orbiting Earth that studies the sun, witnessed the comet's death-blow.

One of the SDO spacecraft's high-definition imagers "actually spotted a sun-grazing comet as it disintegrated over about a 15-minute period July 6, 2011, something never observed before," SDO officials said.

Comets have been spotted near the sun before, but last week's object was the first to be observed in real-time as it disappeared.

"Given the intense heat and radiation, the comet simply evaporated away completely," SDO officials said.


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Very cool thanks for posting Sky