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Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)

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Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)

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Bob Berman's Strange Universe

Bob Berman's strange universe: Magnetic attraction

August 2006: When we think of cosmic power, magnetism doesn't usually come to mind.
Contributed by Bob Berman
Published: August 1, 2006
When we think of cosmic power, magnetism doesn't usually come to mind. The Sun's nuclear furnace churns out blistering heat and blinding light, but magnetism plays no role in the fusion process, which converts our star's mass to energy. So a star's magnetic field is like cole slaw: nice but unnecessary. Certainly irrelevant in the energy big leagues. At least, that's how it always seemed.
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