Sharmila Kuthunur is a Seattle-based science journalist covering astronomy, astrophysics and space exploration. Follow her on X @skuthunur.
In December 1995, an observatory traveled nearly a million miles from Earth as part of a $1 billion mission to study the sun. , turned out to tremendously exceed expectations. Not only has SOHO become the longest-lived satellite watching our star, but it has also become a serendipitous yet prolific comet hunter. And on Monday — a little over 28 years since its launch — the observatory discovered its 5,000 comet.
"The fact that we've finally reached this milestone — 5,000 comets — is just unbelievable to me," said Battams, who's also the principal investigator for the Sungrazer Project. SOHO's newfound, 5,000th comet is a tiny, icy rock belonging to the Marsden group of comets, one of three major kinds known to skim past the sun. Scientists think comets of this group areBreaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!cometary shards and a vast dust trail extending ahead and behind 96P, suggesting its fragmentation also released other comets like the one just discovered.
It's official – @MissionSoho has hit 5000 comets! ☄️Spotted on 25 March by citizen scientist and seasoned comet hunter Hanjie Tan, this rare 'Marsden group' comet is extremely small and faint.See the comet next to the Sun 👉 https://t.co/1UCgt0f6Dt pic.twitter.
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