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History’s greatest comet hunter approaches major milestone

6 July 2005

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SOHO spacecraft sees two comets plunge into the Sun

In a rare celestial spectacle, two comets were observed plunging into the Sun's atmosphere in close succession, on 1 and 2 June 2000. This unusual event on Earth's own star was followed on 2 June 2000 by a likely unrelated but also dramatic ejection of solar gas and magnetic fields on the south-west (or lower right) limb of the Sun.

Credits: SOHO/LASCO (ESA/NASA)

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SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. SOHO's science ranges from the Sun's hot interior, through its visible surface and stormy atmosphere, and out to distant regions where the wind from the Sun battles with a breeze of atoms coming from among the stars.

Credits: ESA

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