Scots astronomer beats US defence giant to comet solution

Published on Sunday 24 July 2011 15:20

SCOTLAND'S Astronomer Royal has pipped a billion-dollar US aerospace defence conglomerate at the post by working out how comets - which have the potential to destroy life on Earth - die when they hit the sun.

The discovery by Professor John Brown came just two weeks before Dr Karel Schrijver, principal physicist at the Lockheed Martin Technology Centre in California, captured the first-ever direct observation of such an event by Nasa's Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) spacecraft on 6 July. While most comets die, many scientists believe one may have been responsible for wiping out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

A smaller one is believed to have exploded over Siberia in 1908.

Currently scientists are determining how rockets, carrying bombs, could push aside comets before they hit Earth.

But Prof Brown's theory, which measures the mass and make-up of comets, would provide some of the most detailed information yet to ensure proper targeting against a potential threat.

Professor Anne Glover, chief scientific adviser for Scotland, said: "This is great news and yet another example of Scotland's scientists being at the forefront of widening our understanding of the universe."