The Coronal Mass Ejection Was An Afterthought: Giant Comet Hits the Sun

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory watched as a fairly bright comet plummeted towards the Sun, May 10-11, 2011. The comet, probably part of the Kreutz family of comets, was discovered by amateur astronomer Sergey Shurpakov. Suspiciously enough, a coronal mass ejection erupted before the comet came in close enough contact with the Sun to interact with strong magnetic fields and scientists have yet to find a convincing physical connection between sun-grazing comets and coronal mass ejections.