Comet’s close encounter
The BBC picked up on this fascinating time-lapse footage of Comet Encke buffeted by a solar storm as it nears the Sun – the images are part of a study of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) and come from NASA’s STEREO satellites. [Footage credit: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory/Naval Research Laboratory/University of Birmingham]
Previously STEREO captured images of Comet Encke taking a direct hit from a CME. [Video credit: NASA]
And here’s a short animation on CME’s and the interaction they have with the Earth’s magnetic field [Video credit: NASA]
Pete….keep this stuff coming.
My astronomy may only extend to Brian May’s Bang! and ownership of a Celestron Powerseeker, but you pick up the stuff I’d miss.
It’s appreciated.
I find these threads to be both fascinating and terrifying.
I trust that if the Big One ever hits then Pete will post a “The End is Nigh” thread and correct the inaccuracies in the comments section to the very end
What has this to do with Northern Ireland?
Just filling in for those asleep.
JC,
‘What has this to do with Northern Ireland?’
Eh? I suspect that without the Earth having a magnetic field to deflect those rays we might resemble melted pizza hanging off skeletons
Perhaps Pete can enlighten us on what would happen if these Coronal mass ejections were not deflected by our magnet field ?
Thanks as usual Pete
Pete might tell you, GF.
“Perhaps Pete can enlighten us on what would happen if these Coronal mass ejections were not deflected by our magnet field ?”
If I could hazard a guess, might there be eternal peace and tranquility between green and orange?
And if it does mean everyone would be a deep fried mars bar how are space ships meant to go through the galaxy without special magnetic shielding?
wilde rover
‘how are space ships meant to go through the galaxy without special magnetic shielding?
They are’nt well not with human beings aboard .
It’s believed that the prohibitive 400 billion dollar cost was the main reason why Bush 1/Bush 11 did not pursue the Mars landing strategy and instead focused on a Baghdad takeover as the main foreign policy goal of their administrations.
The other reason as you hint at is that any astronauts would of course be ‘microwaved ‘ by deep space radiation outside the protection of Earth’s magnetic field. Looks like we are ‘prisoners’ in our corner of the solar system until this ‘barrier’ is overcome .