SOHO Comet 367: Sungrazer
Explanation:
The most prolific comet discovering instrument
in history rides aboard the
sun-staring
SOHO spacecraft, 1.5 million kilometers sunward of planet Earth.
Of course, most of these
SOHO
comets have been
sungrazers -
like the one illustrated in the dramatic montage above.
Three frames taken hours apart on October 23rd, show
bright SOHO comet number 367
plunging toward the fiery solar surface,
its tail streaming away
from
the Sun located just beyond the left hand border.
Each panel spans about one million kilometers at
the distance of
the Sun.
From bottom to top, the comet's tail grows as the intensifying
solar radiation heats the frozen comet material and increases the
outflow of gas
and dust.
Because of their orbits,
sungrazers
are believed to belong to a
family of comets produced by the breakup of a single much larger
comet.
Coincidentally, this sungrazer was
discovered
shortly after solar active regions
blasted out clouds of energetic particles, like those that
triggered the recent spectacular
auroral
storms.
And like all SOHO
sungrazers so far,
comet number 367 was not seen to survive its close solar encounter.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
