The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
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Soho's Large-Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) observes two comets plunging into the Sun's atmosphere in close succession on 1 June and 2 June 1998. The demise of the comets was followed the same day by a dramatic ejection of hot gas and magnetic energy known as a coronal mass ejection. The comets belonged to a family known as the 'Kreutz Sun-grazers,' a class of comets that passes through the Sun's corona at distances as close as 50 000 km from the surface. In the images taken on 1&2 June, the comets brighten rapidly as they approach the Sun and disappear as they are evaporated by solar radiation. Solar physicists have never seen a comet actually hit the Sun's surface, as comets that appear bright against the night sky are quickly lost in the glare of the Sun. The twin comets were named Soho-54 and Soho-55 as they were the 54th and 55th comets discovered since the spacecraft was launched in 1995. Before Soho, only 25 Sun-grazers had ever been discovered. [Image Date: 02-06-98] [98.07.006-011]