Published on May 3, 2017
Astronomers were excited in December 2011, when Comet Lovejoy swept
right through the sun’s corona with its long tail streaming behind it.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured images of the comet,
showing how its long tail was buffeted by systems around the sun,
offering scientists a unique way of observing movement as if they’d
orchestrated the experiment themselves. Since comet tails have ionized
gases, they are also affected by the sun’s magnetic field, and can act
as tracers of the complex magnetic system higher up in the solar
atmosphere.
› High resolution video
