NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA has a new challenge for you! Can you predict when a comet will be found? A new contest is asking NASA Web visitors to do just that. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft is searching for comets. It is already the best comet hunter in history, discovering about 900 comets! It's on track to find its 1,000th sometime this summer. Can you guess when?

Image to right: Win solar prizes if you guess the day and time that SOHO finds the 1,000th comet near the sun. Credit: NASA

How Do I Enter the Contest?

Visit the SOHO site to vote for the date and time that you think comet number 1,000 will be found. The person who comes closest to the time wins. The contest rules are on the SOHO site.

Every time SOHO finds a new comet, the site will be updated. You can keep track of the number of comets that have been discovered. But, you must enter your guess by May 15. And there is only one guess per person. Winners will be announced on the new SOHO comet page.

Image to left: Comet Machholz 1 passed within 13 million miles (22 million km) of the sun. This is unusually close for a comet. Click on the image for a large movie, or download a QuickTime version. Credit: NASA/ESA

What Can I Win?

The contest winner will get a package of goodies. This package will include the SolarMax DVD, a SOHO T-shirt, solar viewing glasses, and a selection of SOHO materials. Second and third place entries will receive the same package without the DVD.

A Little Help Please!

To help you out in your guessing, here are a few key dates for SOHO comet discoveries.

Comet Number	Date
100	Feb. 4, 2000
200	Aug. 31, 2000
300	Mar. 25, 2001
400	Feb. 26, 2002
500	Aug. 14, 2002
600	Apr. 29, 2003
700	Dec. 2, 2003
800	June 11, 2004
897	Jan. 13, 2005

Image to right: This comet is a Kreutz sungrazing comet. It is a daredevil that buzzes very close to the sun. This class of comets vaporizes as they plunge into the sun's atmosphere. Click on the image for movie, or download QuickTime and print resolution still. Credit: NASA/ESA

SOHO is a partnership between NASA and the European Space Agency. It watches the sun from its spot a million miles away from Earth, between it and the sun. The SOHO team have put together some of its best comet pictures and movies on the site.
 
Adapted from Join in the Search for SOHO's 1,000th Comet