OCTOBER 1-4, 2011: Large Sundiving Comet Fragment, Mercury & CMEs

SUNDIVING COMET : This morning a quartet of amateur comet hunters (M. Kusiak, S. Liwo, B. Zhou and Z. Xu) independently noticed a comet in SOHO coronagraph images. The icy visitor from the icy solar system is diving toward the sun--probably a one-way trip. Kusiak expects the doomed comet to brighten to first magnitude between now and the early hours of Oct. 1st.

CHANCE OF FLARES: Sunspot 1302, quiet now for three days, still has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class flares.

SOLAR WIND BLASTS MERCURY: At a NASA teleconference yesterday, researchers working with data from the Messenger spacecraft offered new evidence that gusts of solar wind are penetrating Mercury's magnetic field and eroding material off the planet's surface. The spacecraft has actually flown through plumes of ionized sodium scoured from the surface and escaping from weak points in Mercury's magnetosphere.

SUNDIVING COMET: A comet is diving into the sun today. The doomed comet appears to be 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 big fragment like this one attracts attention.

DOUBLE ERUPTION: On October 1st around 10:17 UT, widely-spaced sunspots 1302 and 1305 erupted in quick succession, revealing a long-distance entanglement which was not obvious before.NASA's SDO recorded the double blast.

Since it was launched in 2010, SDO has observed many "entangled eruptions." Active regions far apart but linked by magnetic fields can explode one after another, with disturbances spreading around the stellar surface domino-style. Yesterday's eruption appears to be the latest example.

The part of the eruption centered on sunspot 1305 hurled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth. The relatively slow-moving (500 km/s) cloud is expected to reach our planet on Oct. 4th, possibly causing geomagnetic storms when it arrives.

COMET AND CME: A comet discovered by amateur astronomers on Friday, Sept. 30th, disintegrated in spectacular fashion the very next day when it plunged into the sun. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded the comet's last hours. The end was punctuated by an unexpected explosion:

The timing of the CME so soon after the comet dove into the sun suggests a link. But what? There is no known mechanism for comets to trigger solar explosions. Before 2011 most solar physicists would have discounted the events of Oct. 1st as pure coincidence--and pure coincidence is still the most likely explanation. Earlier this year, however, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) watched another sungrazer disintegrate in the sun's atmosphere. On July 5, 2011, the unnamed comet appeared to interact with plasma and magnetic fields in its surroundings as it fell apart. Could a puny comet cause a magnetic instability that might propagate and blossom into a impressive CME? The question is not so crazy as it once seemed to be.

OCTOBER 4, 2011 -- AURORA BOREALIS LANE: Globally, Earth's magnetic field has been quiet on Oct. 3rd and 4th. - spaceweather

GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A CME hit Earth's magnetic field on Oct. 5th at approximately 0700 UT, sparking minor geomagnetic storms around both poles.

FARSIDE CME: Yesterday, October 4th, something exploded on the far side of the sun and propelled a spectacular CME into space. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded the cloud as it emerged from behind the sun's limb

Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab have combined observations from SOHO and the twin STEREO spacecraft to calculate the CME's trajectory: It is heading for Mercury. The CME will hit the innermost planet on Oct. 5th around 04:30 UT plus minus 7 hours. Energetic particles accelerated by shock waves at the leading edge of the cloud could also have minor effects on the MESSENGER probe in orbit around Mercury. The CME's forecast track shows that Venus might also receive a blow on Oct. 6th.

SONG TITLE: Mercury Departs - Audio has a commercial license.

[solarcradle]

@starsontheground According to NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center, M-Class along with 3 C-Classes on October 1st. Spaceweather shows an M1-Class at approximately 1000UT and a B9 at 2057 UT. The CME you speak, if I am understanding the one you speak of, was large and beautiful. :) I think I saw analemma in that one. :)

[solarcradle]

@starsontheground ...While keeping other fragmentation events and mainstream in mind, I'll guess 100's of meters in diameter. Good question. Compared beside Mercury, without factoring distance & trying to imagine without the tail winds, this fragment appears huge...

[solarcradle]

@starsontheground With Sun's renewed expression/extended solar fields which radiate to us further out this year then last- can it be that outburst occurred a little earlier than it might have in solar minimum phases ...making this one appear huge as it outbursts further away from the sun and further into space? Closer to us.

It's a tough guess. :) No doubt a large mass for the SOHO-kreutz group.

Where is it's dense mass is now? :)

[TrueHamal]

The other object at nine o' clock position is another spacecraft. It's similar to that at five o'clock position. They are not comet like objects. They are star-ships.

[solarcradle]

@solarcradle In great brightness, this diver approaches toward SOHO while on route to Sun.

I won't like to better understand the annual meteor calendar list and this parent comet situation. How do the constellations contribute periodics? etc.. When will Earth plow through these fluffly clouds, not only seasonally. If only we had designation. lol /close

[solarcradle]

We did not clearly understand if the heliosphere; "bubble" of magnetic-fields and particles surrounding our solar system, is mainly dependent on our sun's energy billowing fields out towards the heliopause.

Recent Voyager reports display that there are higher energies at the edge than expected. (Bands of high energy traveling around and inside our solar system/reacting with.)

Question: How do we determine when the sun has connection and disconnection with these energies, if at all?

[TrueHamal]

This object at five o'clock position is not a comet. It's a spacecraft, we can easily perceive its wings.

[solarcradle]

@starsontheground :) You are the winner! :) JK with you, as you are on message board. I have been pretty busy. I started to get back to you and pasted it in notepad somewhere. Will respond soon. tc u

[solarcradle]

@starsontheground @starsontheground Ok.. :) "the SunDiving-Comet"..
Quote for you: "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 big fragment like this one attracts attention."-spaceweather

...

[solarcradle]

@solarcradle lol THAN!* "which radiate to us further out this year "than" last."

"Never correct your typing errors."