8 Jun 2013

Comet's flight may reveal space secrets

1:55 pm on 8 June 2013

Scientists believe they may be able to use comets flying close to the Sun's surface to help them study its atmosphere.

The researchers say they tracked a comet as it hurtled towards the sun's surface in 2011 using three telescopes based in space.

They hope to use the comet flybys to predict what is known as space weather, in which particles are blasted from the sun that can cause damage to Earth's communications infrastructure, the BBC reports.

The presence of the comet, named Lovejoy after its Queensland discoverer, was verified by Canterbury's Mount John Observatory.

It survived its encounter with the sun and could be seen over much of New Zealand.

In a study published in Science researchers say telescope images have revealed how the comet's tail was pulled about by an intense magnetic field, allowing them to characterise this force for the first time.

By studying the comet's movements, the researchers have been able to find out more about the properties of the magnetic field for the first time.

The Sun's magnetic field drives the strong solar winds and explosions that occur in the solar corona, which can blast out particles which can cause damage to satellites.