Scientists view 640,000-mph crash of comet into sun

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On August 30, 1979, The first recorded occurrence of a comet hitting the sun occurred. It released energy equal to one million hydrogen bombs!

"In terms of comparative mass, he said the comet was 'like a pebble dropping into an ocean.' But Michels said the energy released was immense -- equal to 1 million hydrogen bombs or 1,000 times the energy used by the United States in an entire year.

Michels said comet specialists believe the comet was a previously unidentified member of a rare group called 'sungrazers' because they come so close to the sun before whipping out into deep space. Only eight sungrazers have been recorded in the past 300 years.

Comets are of great scientific interest because they are believed to contain material left over from the beginning of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. The generally accepted theory is that a comet nucleus is like a dirty snowball -- a mixture of dust and frozen water and ices of other compounds.

Michels said the comet, had a tail of gas and dust more than 3 million miles long and was as bright as the planet Venus. Yet he said there have been no reports that the comet was seen from Earth before its collision.

He said this might have been because its probable orbit was oriented in such a way that it approached the sun from behind, in relation to Earth, and it would have been difficult to see from Earth. The best observation sites on the Earth would have been in the Southern Hemisphere, where there are few observatories."