Comet Nishimura has its Tail Blown Off by the Sun ...Ouch !

Comet Nishimura was first observed heading toward the Sun in August by Japanese astronomer Hideo Nishimura , on September 17th the Comet made it's close approach and slingshotted around the Sun surviving the the encounter with itself and its tail intact but as it made a break for safety smug in the knowledge that it had survived the encounter the Sun had the last laugh blowing the Comet's tail off with a sneaky coronal mass ejection.


The moral of the story , don't mess with the Sun.

Comet Nishimura survived the blast and is now heading back to the Oort Cloud where it will no doubt be teased by its rocky icy friends.

On Sept. 17, the comet reached its minimum distance from the sun, known as perihelion, as it slingshotted around our home star at a distance of 20.5 million miles (33 million km). This type of close encounter can often cause comets to burn up and break apart. But astronomers soon discovered that Nishimura had survived the superheated, high-G maneuver.

As Nishimura began to fly away from the sun it passed in front of STEREO-A, which kept a close eye on the escaping comet. Then on Sept. 22, the sun belched out an enormous wave of plasma, or ionized gas, which either came from a strong burst of solar wind or a CME, Spaceweather.com reported. The CME blasted off the comet's tail in what's called a disconnection event. The effect is only temporary and "entirely harmless" for the comet, Battams said. After a disconnection event, a comet's tail will regrow as more dust and gas is blown from the comet.
www.livescience.com...

Wow, that's both fascinating and kind of hilarious! Poor comet Nishimura must have thought it was in the clear after surviving its close encounter with the Sun, only to be pranked by a sneaky coronal mass ejection. The universe has a way of reminding us of its power, doesn't it?

This also highlights the resilience of celestial objects. It's impressive that the comet managed to survive such a dramatic event and continue on its journey, albeit tailless. It's almost like a cosmic tale of survival and perseverance.

Thanks for sharing this!

a reply to: gortex

I appreciate that you find and share these kinds of things!
Great video.