|
Antimatter Sungrazer Comets
Comets have been observed for centuries and sometimes they split into smaller ones, known as sungrazers. The
antimatter sungrazers are classified into
families. The
Kreutz family contains several
hundreds sungrazers that less than a hundred meters in diameter. Kamikaze
sungrazers collide with the sun and produce gigantic explosions. The
X-class solar flares turn out gamma and x-rays from that can cause communication blackouts around the world.
On July 23, 2002,
researchers using NASA's RHESSI
spacecraft took pictures of solar flare's gamma and x-ray
radiation, which is millions to billions of times more energetic than visible
light. After the initial explosions, the lingering metric ton of antimatter could have
powered the United States for two years. The 23,000 metric ton, 30 meters in
diameter antimatter sungrazer created a
billion Megatons of TNT explosion that could have supplied the World's total energy
needs for 10,000 years.
On November 4, 2003,
physicists observed a record-breaking
X-45 class solar flares. The
movies
show the solar explosions and flares from the antimatter sungrazer that collided with the sun.
The solar flares produced x-ray radiation that was equivalent to
5,000 Suns.
For more information, please
visit
American Geophysical
Union,
Naval Research Laboratory,
Science Programs
European Space Agency (ESA),
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO),
NASA,
University of Cambridge, and
Sebastian's
Comet Hunt.
|