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Video: How SOHO Discovered 5,000 Comets

Levels
  • Introductory (K-5)
  • Intermediate (6-8)
  • Advanced (9-12+)
Material Type
  • Animation/Visualization
  • Film/Documentary/Show
Heliophysics Big Ideas
  • Big Idea 1.1 – The Sun is really big…
  • Big Idea 2.2 – The Sun defines the space…
NGSS
  • ESS1 - Earth's Place in the Universe
  • PS1 - Matter and its Interactions
  • PS2 - Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
  • PS3 - Energy
Heliophysics Topics
  • Corona
  • Coronal Mass Ejection
  • Energy
  • Heliosphere
  • Interstellar Space
  • Solar System
  • Solar Wind
  • Sun
Heliophysics Missions
  • Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
Material Cost per Learner Free
Language English

A short video (less than 3 minutes) about how amateur astronomers have used data released from the ESA and NASA's SOHO mission to discover over 5,000 new comets.

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a joint mission of ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA, has discovered over 5,000 comets thanks to the help of volunteer comet hunters participating in the NASA-funded Sungrazer Project. Since the early 2000s, this project has allowed anyone with a computer to search for comets in images taken by the SOHO spacecraft. This milestone 5,000th sungrazing comet, spotted in SOHO images on March 25, 2024, was small and had a short orbital period around the Sun.