The Comet That Wanted to Ignite the Sun express
In December 2011, Comet Lovejoy boldly raced through the searing corona of the Sun. Right after — a flare. Scientists checked whether the comet could have caused it. The atmosphere of the Sun is threaded with taut magnetic loops, like a drawn bowstring. Flying through, the comet lightly brushes this string, and it releases an arrow — a powerful burst of energy. But calculations surprised: the energy of a dirty snowball (as Fred Whipple called comet nuclei) would only be enough for a toy bow. The actual flare, recorded by ultraviolet cameras, required 10–1000 times more. So, the comet wasn't the cause, but merely snapped the string of an already drawn 'bow'. Understanding such touches will help unravel storms on other stars with their planets. Paradox: diving into the solar furnace, the comet didn't perish, but blazed for earthly observers with the brightest light. It didn't ignite the Sun, the Sun ignited it.
The nucleus of Comet Lovejoy shrank after passing through the corona, but the comet survived and became one of the brightest comets of the decade.