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Comet Bradfield
Click on the image above for a movie of Comet Bradfield passing the Sun. The movie was taken by the SOHO Large Angle and Spectrometric COronagraph (LASCO) instrument, showing the comet and its dust tail as the elongated white streak. The Sun would normally be seen in the very center but has been blocked from view. Comet C/2004 F4 (Bradfield) was discovered just one month before it passed the Sun, and it brightened dramatically as it neared the Sun. Careful sky gazers could see Comet Bradfield with the unaided eye near the Sun, although NASA's sun-orbiting SOHO satellite had the best view. Near the end of the movie, there are indications of Comet Bradfield breaking up as the head becomes more diffuse. Watch also the coronal wind moving away from the Sun.