MSNBC

Astronomers have pieced together what appears to be the first direct evidence that solar storms can wreak havoc with comets, destroying the ion tails of icy wanderers in a collision of highly charged particles.

But the effect is not permanent and may serve as a marker for scientists trying to track solar storms known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, as they blow out into space.
"What we have now is sort of a new tool of tracking these ejections," said Geraint Jones, co-investigator of the comet study and a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "It's like dropping paint into a flowing river of water."

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"Without the amateur astronomers, this research would not have been possible," Jones said. "It's a great example of how amateur astronomers and professionals can work together."

Bottom line quote: "It would be a little more useful if there were a lot more comets out there."

And it would make a lot of comet hunters/enthusiast blissful, but scare the hell out of dooms dayers.