The Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO-A) probe immortalized the green comet Nishimura at the moment when the comet in question was hit by a coronal mass ejection (CME).
This particular CME was so strong that Nishimura even temporarily lost her tail. The course of the collision was captured on a number of images, which were later combined into a short video.
“Comet Nishimura looks spectacular. There are lots of beautiful interactions between the comet’s tail and the solar wind, along with a possible flyby from the CME,” said lead author Karl Battams of the Naval Research Laboratory.
Let us recall that this comet was first noticed last month by the Japanese amateur astronomer Hideo Nishimura (hence its name).
Scientists believe it originates from the Oort cloud – a hypothetical spherical cloud of comets located at the edge of our solar system beyond the Kuiper belt.
On September 17, it approached the Sun at such a short distance, which usually becomes fatal for similar comets. Nevertheless, Nishimura “survived” and continued his journey.
Cover photo is illustrative only.
2023-10-03 13:46:13
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