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European Space Agency

Press Release

Bright comet is really NEAT
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19 February 2003

Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT) is putting on a fine show for ESA/NASA's Solar
and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) space probe. As the comet swings
closer to the Sun, it has gotten brighter. Now it is the brightest
comet ever observed by SOHO's LASCO instrument. 

The show became even more spectacular in the early hours of 18
February 2003, when the Sun unleashed a storm of charged particles,
known as a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). It looked as if this ejection
was heading for the comet. Astronomers are trying to find out if there 
was a head-on collision. The comet will remain in the LASCO field of 
view until Thursday 20 February 2003.

First recognised in the 1970s, CMEs play an important role in space
weather. They occur when the magnetic field of the Sun whiplashes,
sending a cloud of super-hot gaseous debris flying off into space.
When a CME occurs very fast and powerfully and stretches out in the
direction of our planet, it can cause a chain of effects. What can
happen? The effects can affect satellites in orbit, burn out power
station transformers on Earth, and endanger orbiting astronauts.
Studying CMEs and their effects is an important goal for modern
science. 

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