Citizen scientist captures final moments of comet during solar eclipse
Paris, France (SPX) Apr 23, 2024 -
On the morning of 8 April 2024, a citizen scientist discovered a comet in images from the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), coinciding with the historic identification of the 5000th comet by SOHO. This newly found comet, designated Comet SOHO-5008, was not just another number in the catalog.Karl Battams, of the US Naval Research Lab and manager of the SOHO Sungrazer Project, had anticipated that Comet SOHO-5008 would appear during the total solar eclipse on the same day, which darkened skies over parts of the United States and Mexico.
In Mexico, Petr Horalek from the Institute of Physics in Opava, Czechia, captured a striking image of the event. As the clouds parted, Horalek photographed the Sun's dramatic corona with Comet SOHO-5008 visible to the Sun's lower left.
Shortly after the photograph was taken, Comet SOHO-5008 disintegrated, having approached too close to the Sun. This type of comet, known as a 'sungrazer,' is seldom observed from the ground, making this sighting during the eclipse particularly significant.
The image presented is a blend of 100 frames, capturing the wide corona at 200 mm focal length (exposure range from 1/4000 to 2 seconds) and the inner corona at 1100 mm (exposure time between 1/500 to 4 seconds).
The SOHO mission, although not initially intended for comet discovery, has become the most successful comet tracker in history, largely due to its unobstructed view of the Sun's vicinity.