Death of a Comet?

Given that Comet Ison came within a 1 solar radii diameter of the surface of our star, experiencing temperatures in excess of 5000 fahrenheit, it is little surprise when watching this animation that it seems to evaporate away significantly reducing in it's brightness.  Whether anything has survived and come out of the other side of the sun remains to be seen, but it is highly improbable Ison will end up being the brightest comet for some significant time as some media sources have reported.  In the days ahead observations shoud give a clearer view of what has gone on...

Comet Tails Blowing In The Solar Wind

NOAA forecasters may well be giving a low chance for solar flares at the moment, but flares or not the solar wind endlessly keeps blowing.  This image was taken by the STEREO-A spacecraft from outside Earths orbit.  It shows the solar wind blowing from right to left, with Comet Encke approaching the sun from the top left corner of the image downwards, and Comet Ison entering the frame from the mid left.  The influence of the solar wind on their tails is very easy to see in this very unique image.  The STEREO spacecraft was launched in 2006 and has been providing views of our star since then.  This video gives some great information about its mission:

X-Class Flare Hurls Off CME Into Space - 20th November

With all the recent solar activity it was only a matter of time before another flare occurred.  On 19th november at 10.26ut departing sunspot AR11893 crackled with a massive X-1 flare.  While the explosion was not squarely directed at Earth this flare did affect our planet, with the UV flash creating a wave of ionisation in the upper atmosphere over Europe, Asia and part of Africa with a brief high frequency radio blackout occurring over the poles.  The explosion hurled off a huge CME however this is not aimed at our planet.  

Chance of X-class Flares - 17th November

Cloud may well have returned to the UK again, but the Sun is crackling with plenty of activity: Sunspot AR11897 has evolved into a sprawling archipelago of magnetic islands with more than a dozen dark cores scattered across 350,000 km of solar "terrain." This complex region has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares, and it is directly facing Earth. Any eruptions from AR11897 this weekend would likely be geoeffective. NOAA forecasters estimate a 60% chance of M-class solar flares and a 15% chance of X-flares.

ar11890 & Prom - 10th November

ar11890 prom ha colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

This widescreen mosaic was taken with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm fl with the DMK31 camera. This was a lovely turbulent area of sun to view!

ar11890 ha 10th November

ar11890 ha colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Lots to see with the monster spot when viewing with the 100mm PST mod.

ar11893 ha colour 10th November

ar11893 ha colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Lots of activity visible in this shot taken with the 100mm PST mod at f20 with the DMK31 camera.