SOLWIND 5
Copyright © 1984 by Naval Research Lab (Washington, D.C.)
These images were obtained with the SOLWIND white light coronagraph aboard the Air Force Space Test Program satellite P78-1 on 1984 July 28. The left-hand image is the first image showing the comet, while the right-hand image was the best obtained before the comet was lost amidst a strong solar flare.
Copyright © 1985 by the High Altitude Observatory and NASA
This image was the second of two high-quality images obtained by the Solar Maximum Mission satellite (SMM). It was obtained on 1984 July 28.439.
Discovery
This was the fifth comet found on images obtained by the SOLWIND instrument aboard satellite P78-1. N. R. Sheeley, Jr. (Naval Research Laboratory) reported the discovery and noted that R. Howard, M. Koomen, and D. Michels had identified the comet during a routine analysis of the images. The comet first appeared on an image exposed on 1984 July 28.302 and was last seen on July 28.443. Overall, the comet was seen on 12 images. The comet was 6.7 solar radii distant from the sun on the first image, and had moved to within 2.7 solar radii by the time the final image was obtained. Interestingly, this comet was also photographed by the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite on July 28.373 and July 28.439.
B. G. Marsden computed a parabolic orbit which indicated the comet was a member of the sungrazing family. He revealed the comet passed perihelion on 1984 July 28.556 TT at a distance of only 0.01541 AU. Interestingly, the two higher quality images obtained by the SMM could not be used in the orbital determination because the positions were somewhat inconsistent with those obtained by SOLWIND.
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