NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft records comets flying through the solar wind

The STEREO-A spacecraft captures a comet ATLAS that glows with a long tail trail as it passes near the Sun on May 25 - June 1.

In the frame, ATLAS appears from above and rushes down. The comet's dust tail reflects the sunlight, which looks white. The mist flowing from the left is the solar wind composed of charged particles. Mercury also appears in images that STEREO-A records. The planet is a bright dot coming in from the left.

The comet's dust tail reflects the sunlight, which looks white.

Comet ATLAS was discovered last December. Scientists expect this comet will glow strongly when approaching the Sun, providing a good opportunity to observe. However, it began to disintegrate in April in the midst of astro-lovers. From the STEREO-A viewpoint from May 25 to June 1, the debris of this comet is still clustered close to each other like a complete celestial body.

The STEREO-A spacecraft launched into space in 2006 with the mission to study the Sun, especially at angles that humans cannot see from Earth. Another spacecraft by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) is also responsible for studying the Sun, Solar Orbiter, flying through the comet's tail ATLAS but not appearing in the frame.

Comet tails are of two types: the ion tail and the dust tail. The Solar Orbiter flew over the ion tail of ATLAS on May 31. According to calculations by scientists, the ship can also fly over the dust tail of this comet on 6/6.

Solar Orbiter launched in February this year. According to the original plan, it will officially operate with full functions on June 15. However, engineers have re-adjusted the schedule and commissioned important equipment early, taking advantage of the rare opportunity to study comets. This is the first time scientists have predicted the event of a ship, which was built for other purposes, flying over the tail of the comet.