A comet dove into the sun on May 11th and seemed to trigger a massive eruption--emphasis on seemed. Watch the movie below, then scroll down for further discussion.
A comet goes in; a CME comes out. Coincidence? Probably, yes, the sequence was coincidental. The comet disintegrated as much as a million kilometers above the stellar surface. There's no known way that the wispy, vaporous remains of a relatively lightweight comet could cause a billion-ton cloud of hot plasma to fly away from the sun at 400 km/s (the observed speed of the CME). Moreover, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the eruption that did propel the CME into space. There's no comet in the field of view of this
must-see movie.Bonus: The bright comet pictured above had a dim companion. Can you
find it?
Comment: Unfortunately, Space Weather's commentator does not take into account the idea that there is an electrical discharge phenomena taking place here which can easily explain why the eruption began before the physical arrival of the comet. If a comet in the far reaches of the solar system can induce Solar discharge events - which is part of the Electric Universe theory - then certainly, a discharge event can begin to manifest as the comet approaches.
From our recent review of
Planet-X, Comets and Earth Changes by J.M. McCanney, we understand solar discharge events as follows:
Basically, electrons' movement is slightly retarded in the Sun's corona, with solar flares hurling out an excess number of protons. The excess protons in the solar wind creates a separation of charge throughout the entire solar system - a giant capacitor with a positively charged, doughnut-shaped nebular cloud of dust and gases stretching to the far reaches of the solar system, and the negatively charged the surface of the Sun. An electrical potential exists between these two poles and any object moving through plasma regions of varying charge density will become charged, depending on its size and relative velocity. When new bodies (e.g., comets) enter this plasma region from outer space, they ignite and begin to discharge the solar capacitor.
Given the electrical nature of the Sun and comets, there is likely more than just "coincidence" at play here.
After reading the article carried recently on Mark Boslough's work and seeing the video of his simulation relating to comet airburst's and thier potentially devastating effects (http://www.sott.net/article/224394-A-Thermal-Airburst-Impact-Structure), I no longer think that any comets would neccesarily have to hit the Sun's surface to trigger any outbursts or eruptions. Getting close enough, vapourising and creating an impact vortex could easily be just as effective at producing changes in the Suns output, as actually making a touch-down.