A collaborative mission between European Space Agency and National Aeronautics Space Administration called Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spotted a comet. The comet was called Comet 96P which returned after 2012 on 25th October 2017. The SOHO spotted the same comet in 1996, 2002, 2007 and 2012 making it a frequent visitor to our solar system.
Simultaneously another observatory called Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory shortly called STEREO. it watched the comet between 26 October 2017 to 28 October 2017. It is an rare event that both observatory captured the same comet from two different places. Scientists of NASA are interested in finding the composition of the comet, interaction of comet with solar wind and the flow of charged particles by integrating the data from STEREO and SOHO Observatories.
Basic Details of Comet 96P:
Name of Comet - Machholz or Comet 96P
Founder - Don Machholz
Year of Discovery - 1986
Orbital Period - 5.24 Years
Closest approach - 11,000 km
Re-Observed - 1996 - 2002 - 2007 - 2012 - 2017
Scientists found the comet 96P interesting, because it is different from all other families of comet. It origins from a larger part of Millennia and brokeup into smaller fragments. From the collected data of SOHO observatory, astronomers are interested in knowing the composition and also the nature and origins of complex family.
Tags: Comet 96P | SOHO Observatory | STEREO Observatory
Information Provided by : National Aeronautics Space Administration
Credits : Image Credit : NASA | SOHO
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