Before 1979, there were less than a dozen known sungrazing comets. As of December 2012, we know of 2,500. Why did this number increase? With solar observatories like SOHO, STEREO, and SDO, we have not only better means of viewing the sun, but also the comets that approach it. SOHO allows us to see smaller, fainter comets closer to the sun than we have ever been able to see before. Even though many of these comets do not survive their journey past the sun, they survive long enough to be observed, and be added to our record of sungrazing comets.
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NASA ID
GSFC_20130206_SDO_m11156_SungrazingComets
Date Created
February 6, 2013
Center
GSFC
Media Type
video
Location
Goddard Space Flight Center
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