Four of Our Favorite SOHO discovered Comets
On June 15, 2020, a citizen scientist spotted a neverbeforeseen comet in data from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO the 4, 000th comet discovery in the spacecrafts 25year history. The comet is nicknamed SOHO4000, pending its official designation from the Minor Planet Center. Like most other SOHOdiscovered comets, SOHO4000 is part of the Kreutz family of sungrazers. The Kreutz family of comets all follow the same general trajectory, one that carries them skimming through the outer atmosphere of the Sun. SOHO4000 is on the small side, with a diameter in the range of 1530 feet, and was extremely faint and close to the Sun when discovered meaning SOHO is the only observatory that has spotted the comet, as its impossible to see from Earth with or without a telescope. More:
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