Return of the comet: 96P spotted by ESA, NASA satellites

The ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA mission SOHO—short for Solar and Heliospheric Observatory—got a visit from an old friend this week when comet 96P entered its field of view on Oct. 25, 2017. The comet entered the lower right corner of SOHO’s view, and skirted up and around the right edge before leaving on Oct. 30. SOHO also spotted comet 96P in 1996, 2002, 2007 and 2012, making it the spacecraft’s most frequent cometary visitor.