October 10, 2024
If the universe seems cold from a distance, birthdays are part of its rebuttal.
Five Bright Comets from SOHO
Birthday · October 10, 2024
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APOD published October 10, 2024. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Five bright comets are compared in these panels, recorded by a coronograph on board the long-lived, sun-staring SOHO spacecraft. Arranged chronologically all are recognizable by their tails streaming away from the Sun at the center of each field of view, where a direct view of the overwhelmingly bright Sun is blocked by the coronagraph's occulting disk. Each comet was memorable for earthbound skygazers, starting at top left with Comet McNaught, the 21st century's brightest comet (so far). C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, following its perihelion with the active Sun at bottom center, has most recently grabbed the attention of comet watchers around the globe. By the end of October 2024, the blank 6th panel may be filled with bright sungrazer comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS). ... or not.