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.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicComet C/2001 C2 (originally designated SOHO-294) was discovered in LASCO C3 images on 6 February 2001.
The comet has been confirmed as a member of the Kreutz family of Sun-grazing comets. These comets are believed to be fragments of a parent body which was torn apart some time in the distant past. The image above is a composite of LASCO C2 data, the white light corona at 19:54 UT, and two UVCS observations of the comet itself. The UVCS images represent observations taken at 4.82 and 3.32 Solar Radii (Ro) over a time span of 19:11-20:02 UT and 20:11-20:45 UT respectively. Each UVCS image is a time sequence of several 200 second exposures as the comet passed across the entrance aperture. The UVCS comet images have been approximately positioned and scaled to the LASCO corona image. A wide, well-defined tail can be seen in the magnified version of the 4.82 Ro observation.