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The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft built by a European industrial consortium led by Matra Marconi Space that was launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS launch vehicle on 2 December 1995, to study the Sun. It has also discovered more than 5,000 comets. It began normal operations in May 1996. It is a joint project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. SOHO was part of the International Solar Terrestrial Physics Program (ISTP). Originally planned as a two-year mission, SOHO continues to operate after 29 years in space; the mission has been extended until the end of 2025, subject to review and confirmation by ESA's Science Programme Committee.
A sungrazing comet is a comet that passes extremely close to the Sun at perihelion – sometimes within a few thousand kilometres of the Sun's surface. Although small sungrazers can completely evaporate during such a close approach to the Sun, larger sungrazers can survive many perihelion passages. However, the strong evaporation and tidal forces they experience often lead to their fragmentation.
The Great Comet of 1843, formally designated C/1843 D1 and 1843 I, was a long-period comet which became very bright in March 1843. It was discovered on February 5, 1843, and rapidly brightened to become a great comet. It was a member of the Kreutz Sungrazers, a family of comets resulting from the breakup of a parent comet into multiple fragments in about 1106. These comets pass extremely close to the surface of the Sun—within a few solar radii—and often become very bright as a result.
The Great Comet of 1882, formally designated as C/1882 R1, 1882 II, and 1882b, was a comet which became very bright in September 1882. It was a member of the Kreutz Sungrazers, a family of comets which pass within 1 R☉ of the Sun's photosphere at perihelion.
The Kreutz sungrazers are a family of sungrazing comets, characterized by orbits taking them extremely close to the Sun at perihelion. At the far extreme of their orbits, aphelion, Kreutz sungrazers can be a hundred times farther from the Sun than the Earth is, while their distance of closest approach can be less than twice the Sun's radius. They are believed to be fragments of one large comet that broke up several centuries ago and are named for German astronomer Heinrich Kreutz, who first demonstrated that they were related. These sungrazers make their way from the distant outer Solar System to the inner Solar System, to their perihelion point near the Sun, and then leave the inner Solar System in their return trip to their aphelion.
Comet White–Ortiz–Bolelli was a bright comet which appeared in 1970. It was a member of the Kreutz sungrazers, a family of comets which resulted from the break-up of a large parent comet several centuries ago. It was already easily visible to the naked eye when first discovered, and reached a maximum apparent magnitude of +1.
Comet Pereyra was a bright comet that appeared in 1963. It was a member of the Kreutz Sungrazers, a group of comets that pass extremely close to the Sun.
Comet 96P/Machholz or 96P/Machholz 1 is a short-period sungrazing comet discovered on May 12, 1986, by amateur astronomer Donald Machholz on Loma Prieta peak, in central California using 130 millimetres (5.1 in) binoculars. On June 6, 1986, 96P/Machholz passed 0.404 AU from the Earth. 96P/Machholz last came to perihelion on January 31, 2023. The comet has an estimated diameter of around 6.4 km (4.0 mi).
Comet 322P/SOHO, also designated P/1999 R1, P/2003 R5, P/2007 R5, and P/2011 R4, is the first periodic comet to be discovered using the automated telescopes of the SOHO spacecraft, and second to be given a numbered designation, after 321P/SOHO. JPL Horizons next predicts 322P to come to perihelion on 21 August 2023 at around apparent magnitude 6 and only 3 degrees from the Sun. At perihelion it is six times closer to the Sun than the planet Mercury is at perihelion.
Comet Howard–Koomen–Michels, also formally known as C/1979 Q1 (Solwind), was a large sungrazing comet that collided with the Sun on August 30, 1979. It is the first comet discovered by an orbiting satellite and the only comet known to have made contact with the Sun's surface, as most bodies vaporize before impact.
The Great Southern Comet of 1887, or C/1887 B1 using its International Astronomical Union (IAU) designation, was a bright comet seen from the Southern Hemisphere during January 1887. Later calculations indicated it to be part of the Kreutz Sungrazing group. It came to perihelion on 11 January 1877 at a distance of 0.00483 AU (723 thousand km) with a velocity of 606.1 km/s. Since the Sun has a radius of 696000 km, the comet passed about 27000 km from the surface of the Sun.
Comet Lovejoy, formally designated C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), is a long-period comet and Kreutz sungrazer. It was discovered in November 2011 by Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy. The comet's perihelion took it through the Sun's corona on 16 December 2011, after which it emerged intact, though greatly impacted by the event.
C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) was a sungrazing comet that was discovered from the ATLAS–HKO in Hawaii on 27 September 2024. The comet passed its perihelion on 28 October 2024, at a distance of about 0.008 AU from the barycenter of the Solar System, and disintegrated. The comet is a member of the Population II subgroup of the Kreutz sungrazers, which were created by the fragmentation of the Great Comet of 1106.
C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) was a non-periodic comet, which reached perihelion on 13 January 2025, at a distance of 0.09 AU (13 million km) from the Sun. Dubbed the Great Comet of 2025, it is currently the brightest comet of 2025, with an apparent magnitude reaching −3.8 on the day of its perihelion. The comet is visible in the southern hemisphere before and after perihelion. It was only observed in the daytime sky around perihelion in the northern hemisphere.
The Great Southern Comet of 1880, formally designated as C/1880 C1 in modern nomenclature, is a comet that became visible in the naked eye throughout the Southern hemisphere in February 1880. It is notable for being classified as a "great comet" not by its apparent magnitude, but by its prominent tail.
The 96P sungrazer family is a small group of sungrazing comets, originating from the comet 96P/Machholz. It is only observed by LASCO corongraphs aboard SOHO probe. It contains three subgroups: Marsden, Kracht and Kracht II.
Comet du Toit, formal designation C/1945 X1, is a sungrazing comet that was observed four times by South African astronomer, Daniel du Toit, on December 1945. The comet is a member of the Kreutz sungrazer family.
C/2023 F2 (SOHO), also known as SOHO-4658, is a sungrazing comet that was discovered by Chinese astronomer, Hanjie Tan, from images taken by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory on 20 March 2023.
References
- 1 2 "JPL Small-Body Database: C/2012 E2 (SWAN)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 2023-09-02.
- 1 2 3 "The 2012 "SWAN-grazer": Comet Lovejoy version 2.0?". Archived from the original on 2018-12-23. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
- ↑ Musgrave, Ian. "Comet Swan Enters LASCO C2, and STEREO COR1 and 2".
- ↑ "Bright comet makes SWAN dive into sun today".
