Solar Swan Song: NASA Satellite Witnesses a Comet's Plunge into the Sun
Thursday, January 19, 2012 - 16:00
in Astronomy & Space
As dramatic exits go, it's on par with Major T. J. "King" Kong riding a falling nuclear bomb like a rodeo bull at the end of Dr. Strangelove . A NASA spacecraft has documented a comet's demise as it plunged toward the sun at 600 kilometers per second, broke apart and vaporized inside the solar atmosphere. [More]