Space Events

Space Weather - Sun Swallows Comet

On Friday, the sun swallowed a comet. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spotted the icy visitor from the outer solar system making a headlong plunge into our star. One comet went in; none came out.

Heated by the sun at point blank range, the comet's fragile ices vaporised, leaving at most a "rubble pile" of rock and gravel scattered along its sungrazing orbit. Any remains are invisible from Earth. The comet, R.I.P., was probably 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 (~10 m to 50 m) attracts attention. Because of their common parentage, sungrazers often come in clusters.

Space Events

Comet

NASA released this photo of the Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) taken on April 10 by the Hubble Space Telescope, when it was slightly closer to the Earth than Jupiter. The nucleus of comet itself is only 3-4 miles in diameter but the dusty head of the comet is about 3,100 miles across. The current dust trail is 57,000 miles long, but will increase in size as it approaches the sun as frozen gases will be released. This comet could actually outshine the moon as it approaches the sun, getting closest on November 28 this year.

Space Events

Comet to appear in UK skies

A bright comet could be visible in the skies above the UK on 12 - 13 March - as long as it's not cloudy!

The icy mass, nicknamed "C/2011 L4 Pan-Starrs" should be visible with binoculars or a telescope.

Astronomers in countries like Australia have already spotted the comet and some reports say it was as bright as the stars in the Plough.