Karl Battams
@sungrazercomets.bsky.social
Astrophysicist. PI of SOHO/LASCO & Sungrazer Project, studying mostly comets, asteroids, Sun and misc heliophysics stuff. Personal account; all opinions mine.
As many have pointed out, the LASCO images on the SOHO website are saturated. So this is the result of my own algo for processing them. And I will echo my sentiments from yesterday: This. Comet. Is. RIDICULOUS! 🤩😍 ☄️🔭☀️
I really, REALLY can't get over just how beautiful this comet is in our LASCO images! I mean, I've seen more than a handful of comets in this data over the years (~5,200 to be exact - not that I'm counting...) But I've really gotta say... this might be the pick o' the bunch right here. WOW 😱😍☄️☀️🔭
C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) Jan 13.715, 2025 UT- Processed from images courtesy of SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory). An RGB image was created by mapping the color channels to images acquired with different filters using SOHO's LASCO C3 camera.
This has me really excited for the comet viewing we will do with PUNCH once we launch in a few weeks. Our inner field of view limit matches LASCO C3, but our outer field of view extends out six times farther — to 45 degrees from the Sun! ☀️🛰️🔭
Karl Battams@sungrazercomets.bsky.social · 2y agoShort animation of C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) in the Blue filter on our ESA/NASA SOHO/LASCO C3 camera. ☀️🔭 Seeing lots of beautiful striations in the tail! 😍
Truly a stunning tail on this comet, as seen by our @esa.int / NASA SOHO/LASCO camera! 😍☀️🔭☄️
Wolfgang Muehle@dermuehle.bsky.social · 2y agoComet C_2024 G3 (ATLAS) orange filter from 33817929.fts 2025/01/13 08:42:12 C3
Short animation of C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) in the Blue filter on our ESA/NASA SOHO/LASCO C3 camera. ☀️🔭 Seeing lots of beautiful striations in the tail! 😍
Four views of comet ATLAS today: from soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtim... (SOHO LASCO C3 at 18:54 UTC today), x.com/dermuehle/st... (dito; deep red filter -> almost no saturation), www.facebook.com/groups/32578... (from the ISS) and www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=... (from the ground, in daytime).
We have another super bright comet (C/2024 G3 Atlas) making an appearance in LASCO C3 imagery! ☀️☄️
The Comet Observer’s Data Base (COBS) currently lists the comet at magnitude -3.7 ‘with a bullet’. Petr Horálek snapped this view of the comet at sunrise on January 11th over Spisske Podrhadie, Slovakia:
Comet G3 ATLAS looking great in the raw Blue filter LASCO C3 images! ☀️🔭
The comet has been imaged during the day by Nick James, Chelmsford, UK. See groups.io/g/comets-ml/... Elongation ~8°. Max mag expected on Jan 12/13. Note: Never look directly at the Sun with the naked eye or with any unfiltered optical device, such as binoculars or a telescope! ☄️🔭 #CometWatch
G3 ATLAS is now entering LASCO C3! ☀️🔭🛰️ Judging by the saturation spikes, it's at the upper end of our brightness estimates (maybe mag -1 or so? Just eyeballing, so could be off on that). Anyway, follow along over the next few days: soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtim...
Transits through the SOHO LASCO C2 and C3 fields of view in 2025 are now posted: sungrazer.nrl.navy.mil/transits_2025 Huge thanks as always to Sungrazer Project contributor (superstar!) Worachate Boonplod for compiling the list/graphic. Of note: C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) enters LASCO C3 on Jan 11! ☀️🔭☄️
Oh, this is really interesting! The concept of "did comets provide Earth's water?" has always been one of the Big Picture questions for comet science. It was a surprise when data implied the answer was "probably not", but now it seems the case is re-opened... 🤓☄️ bsky.app/profile/momm...
Kathleen Mandt, PhD@mommascientist.bsky.social · 2y agoGood morning. #NASA featured out paper on the Science Mission Directorate website! #PlanetaryScience 🧪🔭🚀🪐🌎☄️🛰️ science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
Today is the 29th launch-iversary of SOHO, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory! Nearly 29 years and counting of solar monitoring and science is absolutely incredible. Forever thankful for SOHO and the teams continued hard work keeping the observatory alive for analysis and research. ☀️
Antares and M4 are center-stage in SOHO/LASCO C3 today. Milky Way turns up later this month ☀️🔭 soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtim...
Eleven years ago today 😳 Comet ISON certainly captured the attention of a global audience! Sadly it didn't survive, but the memories live on! ☄️☀️🔭
Should be entering the LASCO C2 field of view very soon. And no, there's still absolutely no hope it'll survive past the Sun. It will already be an extended (and furiously sublimating) rubble pile. Nice while it lasted tho! ☄️☀️🔭 soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtim...
Here's the data we have so far showing the new (soon-to-be-vaporized) sungrazing comet in our LASCO C3 field of view. Lots of beautiful CME's kicking off too! 😍 See for yourself at the SOHO movie theater: soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/Theater/
The new sungrazer continues to perk up! Lots of solar activity overnight too, and we seem to have a moderate particle storm in the images (all the white "snow"). These are relativistic (i.e. near speed of light) particles blasted out by solar flares/CMEs*, that reach the spacecraft within ~minutes
Something to 👀. New sungrazing comet in ESA/NASA SOHO/LASCO C3, found last night by citizen scientist Zesheng Yang. It should get pretty bright -- maybe Vmag 5 or so? Right now it's hard to spot, but I promise it'll be easy to see by tomorrow. ☄️☀️ Follow along: soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtim...
Hey there! 👋 For those that don't know me from the Other Place, I'm a scientist involved in heliophysics space missions, but with an emphasis on observations of comets & asteroids from those missions. So I Tweet...🤔 ...Bleet? 🤷... mostly stuff like this👇 (Comet McNaught in 2007, NASA STEREO-A)