Comet SOHO-5008: A Surprising Visitor During a Solar Eclipse

2024-04-24 20:15:14

On April 8, 2024, comet SOHO-5008 was spotted and photographed during a solar eclipse before its rapid disintegration. Credit: Petr Horalek (Institute of Physics in Opava), Jozef Kojal (Astronomical Society in Hradec Králové), Milan Halvec

A surprising appearance of a new comet made the April 8th total solar eclipse all the more memorable.

Any dedicated ‘Umberphile’ will tell you: no two imperfections are exactly the same. The weather, the activity of the sun, and the simple expeditionary nature of arriving and standing in the shadow of the moon for those brief moments during totality ensure a unique experience, at any time. The same can be said for a brief glimpse of what’s going on near the Sun, from the bulges and pearly white corona to the configuration of bright planets… and just maybe, a new comet.

The discovery

While many planned to try and spy the periodic comet 12P Pons-Brooks during totality, astronomer Carl Batmes at the US Naval Research Laboratory alerted us to another possibility. A new comet Roa Shemesh, observed hours before. The Kreutz family comet is seen by Worachate Boonplod in the joint’s field of view

NASA

Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion." NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”({” attribute=”” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>נאס”א/ESA’s Solar Heliospheric Observatory (

SOHO

Launched in 1995, the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is a collaboration between the European Space Agency and NASA. SOHO’s primary mission is to help astronomers answer fundamental questions about the Sun’s solar interior, solar wind, and outer solar atmosphere.

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”({” attribute=”” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>סוהו) LASCO C3 and C2 cameras. These are equipped with coronagraphs that cover the sun allowing it to see the near solar environment. The mission was launched more than a quarter of a century ago in 1995. SOHO was deployed to the L1 Earth-Sun Lagrange point nearly a million miles away. Since then, SOHO has proven itself to be a crucial workhorse in solar heliophysics.

Condemned SOHO-5008 (bottom left). Source: SOHO/NASA, ESA.

The comet soon received the official designation of SOHO-5008. That’s right: SOHO led to the discovery of over 5,000 comets in its career. Most of these discoveries were thanks to the efforts of dedicated online explorers, who scanned recent LASCO images.

At that time, the comet in question was a faint object, only a few degrees away from the Sun. The frozen interloper was a difficult target to capture during the passing minutes of totality, but at least two dedicated astrocellists managed to capture it. Lin Zishuan I saw him in tears from northern New Hampshire. Petr Horalek of the Institute of Physics in Opava Czechia (Czech Republic) took pictures from Mexico while catching the object.

Like so many other solar watchers, the comet met its demise shortly after its discovery (actually less than 12 hours), like a sun-submerging spacecraft. disaster area Concert directly from Douglas Adam’s concert The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

A brief history of Songrazers

This type of discovery of SOHO versus a comet versus a solar eclipse has only occurred twice: once in 2008 and again in 2020). SOHO was not designed per se to find comets, but its prolific nature as a comet hunter has become an essential part of the mission’s legacy. SOHO defined whole new families of sun-shepherding comets Kreutz, Marsden and Krait. And to think, before the mission, there were even only sixteen known comets from the Sun.

One similar case was the Great Comet of 1948, which was also discovered by stunned observers during a total solar eclipse. Another was C/1965 Ikeya-Seki, which went on to become one of the truly great comets of the 20th century. Recently, C/2011 W3 Lovejoy surprised everyone by surviving its perihelion passage 140,000 kilometers from the Sun. However, just one year later, 2012 S1 ISON did not.

It was an exciting heavenly spectacle, with an added treat.

Adapted from an article originally published in Universe Today.