# @europeanspaceagency on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DBZE6vrNDer
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/35585006-europeanspaceagency-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/9fee24af0e.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-10-21T15:50:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** J.L.Lopez (@xandler80) — https://gondola.cc/xandler80

## Caption

A front-row seat to a spectacular celestial show! 🌞☄️

From 7 to 13 October 2024, the joint ESA-NASA SOHO mission witnessed a breathtaking cosmic event: Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), the second brightest comet ever recorded by SOHO! With the Sun at the centre of the action (covered for safety), you can see the comet shining brilliantly, Mercury appearing on the left, and massive amounts of solar material being ejected all around.

First spotted last year, this icy traveller most likely originated from the distant Oort Cloud, making its first journey through the inner Solar System in over 80,000 years! SOHO’s location between the Earth and the Sun gave us a perfect view of its spectacular passage, reaching a peak brightness just beyond magnitude –4 (the more negative the magnitude, the brighter the object). The only comet to outshine it? Comet McNaught in 2007!

As if that wasn’t enough, SOHO also captured a wild week of space weather with 4 powerful X-class solar flares, 28 M-class flares, and 31 coronal mass ejections. All this solar activity lit up the skies with stunning auroras down here on Earth! 🌌

Now, this dazzling comet is visible from Earth every evening—don’t miss your chance to spot it in the western sky as it gradually fades throughout October. If you share your captures of the comet on Instagram, remember to tag them with #yourESA to join our community and for a chance to be featured!

Swipe to watch the cosmic dance unfold, with the comet so bright it even partially saturated SOHO’s sensor!

📹 SOHO (@europeanspaceagency & @NASA); @creativecommons BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Acknowledgements: Daniel Müller
📹 @semeion.photo & SOHO (ESA & NASA); CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

## Stats

- **Views:** 131,187
- **Likes:** 19,796
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 99

## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ESA - European Space Agency | @europeanspaceagency | https://gondola.cc/europeanspaceagency | Government Organization |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Producer |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Editor |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Social Media Manager |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Publisher |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Copywriter |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Community Manager |

## Tags

youresa

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