Sunbather
Explanation:
Intense and overwhelming, the direct glare
of the Sun
is blocked by the smooth disk centered
in
this image from the
sun-staring
SOHO spacecraft.
Taken on January 8, the picture shows streamers of
solar wind billowing radially
outward for millions of kilometers above the
Sun's surface indicated by the white circle.
Below and right is inner
planet Venus,
so bright that its image is marred by
a sharp horizontal stripe, a digital imaging artifact.
Also impressively bright is a periodic visitor to the inner
Solar System,
sunbathing comet
96/P Machholz 1 (above and left).
This comet is definitely not a member of the more suicidal
sungrazer
comet family often spotted
approaching the Sun by SOHO.
Seen here with a substantial
coma and tail only
18 million kilometers
from
the Sun (about one eighth the Earth-Sun distance),
Machholz 1 has now passed
perihelion and is outbound in
its orbit,
to return again in just over 5 years.
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.
