Counting Comets

  • Released Tuesday, May 19, 2020
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Music Credit: Birds in The Rain by Robert Guerrier

Complete transcript available.

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, a joint mission between the European Space Agency and NASA, was not designed to find comets — its original goal was to study the Sun from its deep core to the outer layers of its atmosphere. But nearly 25 years since its launch, data from this space-based solar observatory has led to the discovery of well over half of all known comets — upwards of 3,950 new comets found. The huge number of SOHO-discovered comets comes thanks to a combination of well-designed instruments, a long lifespan, the hard work of citizen scientists and a little bit of luck.

Animated GIF of sungrazer comet passing the Sun. Credit: Genna Duberstein

Animated GIF of sungrazer comet passing the Sun. Credit: Genna Duberstein

Animated gif of comets filling the sky. Credit: Genna Duberstein

Animated gif of comets filling the sky. Credit: Genna Duberstein

Animated GIF of comets vaporizing as they pass the Sun. Credit: Genna Duberstein

Animated GIF of comets vaporizing as they pass the Sun. Credit: Genna Duberstein

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Tuesday, May 19, 2020.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:44 PM EDT.

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