Agency
SOHO’s comet encounters
This composite image depicts a collection of some of the brightest comets observed by the LASCO coronagraph on the ESA/NASA SOHO observatory. Almost all of these comets were discovered by citizen scientists, who take part in the Sungrazer project. By studying LASCO images, anyone can report new comets and make new discoveries.
Although LASCO studies the outer atmosphere of the Sun, known as the corona, it is also a powerful comet hunter. In its 26 years of operation, SOHO has observed over 4500 comets, making it the most successful comet hunter in history.
