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A new comet discovered by a JU student

On 17 November 2010 Mr Kusiak discovered one of sungrazing comets. He used the photographs from the LASCO C3 Coronograph, one of the instruments from the SOHO space probe. Next day the comet achieved high brightness and developed a brilliant tail.

The discovery was confirmed by a comet hunter Jiangao Ruan from China and Karl Battams from Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, the co-ordinator of the SOHO project Sungrazing Comets.

The comet passed close to the Sun on 18-19 November. Unfortunately, solar radiation and solar wind led to the comet's disintegration.

SOHO space probe takes photographs of the Sun and its close surroundings. The access to the most recent data is possible within 20 minutes. Every researcher might download the photographs and analyse them with the help of their personal computer.

It was Mr Kusiak's 102nd discovery (which gives him 6th position in the world among other competitors).  Mr Michał Kusiak has been participating in the project since 2004.

Photos and more information about the discoveries and the project: http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=19&month=11&year=2010
http://cometman.tk
http://sungrazer.nrl.navy.mil

Published Date: 23.11.2010
Published by: Łukasz Stadnicki
Uniwersytet Jagielloński