Spacecraft Discovers Thousands of Doomed Comets   
       
   Oct 25, 2015: For an astronomer, discovering a comet can be the highlight of a   
   lifetime.  Great comets carry the names of their discoverers into history.   
   Comet Halley, Comet Lovejoy, Comet Hale-Bopp are just a few examples..   
       
   Imagine the frustration, though, if every time you discovered a comet, it was   
   rapidly destroyed.   
       
   Believe it or not, this is what happens almost every day to the most prolific   
   comet hunter of all time.   
       
   http://youtu.be/AyZI1i7lcc0   
       
   The ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory has discovered more than 3000   
   doomed comets that have passed close to the sun...   
       
   The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, better known as "SOHO", is a joint   
   project of the European Space Agency, or ESA,  and NASA.  Orbiting the sun at   
   1.5 million km, or 932,000 miles from Earth, the distant observatory has just   
   discovered its 3000th comet-more than any other spacecraft or astronomer. And,   
   just about all of SOHO's comets have been destroyed.   
       
   "They just disintegrate every time we observe one," said Karl Battams, a solar   
   scientist at the Naval Research Labs in Washington, D.C., who has been in   
   charge of running the SOHO comet-sighting website since 2003. "SOHO sees   
   comets that pass very close to the sun-and they just can't stand the intense   
   sunlight."   
       
   The overwhelming majority of SOHO's comet discoveries belong to the Kreutz   
   family. Kreutz sungrazers are fragments from the breakup of a single giant   
   comet thousands of years ago. They get their name from 19th century German   
   astronomer Heinrich Kreutz, who studied them in detail. On average, a new   
   member of the Kreutz family is discovered every three days. Unfortunately for   
   these small comets, their orbits swoop perilously close to the sun.   
       
   "There's only one Kreutz comet that made it around the sun - Comet Lovejoy.   
   And we are pretty confident it fell apart a couple of weeks afterwards," says   
   Battams.   
       
   Although SOHO's comets are rapidly destroyed, they nevertheless have great   
   scientific value. For instance, the comets' tails are buffeted and guided by   
   the sun's magnetic fields.  Watching how the tails bend and swing can tell   
   researchers a great deal about the sun's magnetic field.   
       
   Prior to the launch of SOHO in 1995, only a dozen or so comets had ever even   
   been discovered from space, while some 900 had been discovered from the ground   
   since 1761.  SOHO has turned the tables on these figures, making itself the   
   greatest comet hunter of all time.   
       
   But SOHO hasn't reached this lofty perch alone.   The spacecraft relies on   
   people who sift through its data. Anyone can help because SOHO's images are   
   freely available online in real time.  Many volunteer amateur astronomers scan   
   the data on a daily basis for signs of a new comet. The result: 95% of SOHO   
   comets have been found by citizen scientists.   
       
   Whenever someone spots a comet, they report it to Battams. He goes over the   
   imagery to confirm the sighting and then submits it to the Central Bureau for   
   Astronomical Telegrams, which gives it an official name.   
       
   And the name is.you guessed it. "SOHO."   
       
   While comets spotted from the ground are named after the person who first   
   discovered them, comets first observed by a space-based telescope are named   
   after the spacecraft.  The 3000th comet discovered was named "SOHO-3000."   
       
   Naturally, it has already been destroyed.  SOHO doesn't mind though.  The   
   Greatest Comet Hunter Ever has already moved on to the next sungrazer.   
       
   "SOHO-4000," anyone?   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- DB 3.99 + Windows 10   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)