14 DAY TRIAL // On Thursday, November 21, the NASA Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory-A (STERO-A) spacecraft captures this incredible view of the two most popular comets on Earth. Comets ISON and Encke have been the subject of intense media and telescope coverage for the past several months.
This is the first time that both of them are imaged in the same photo. The Heliospheric Imager 1 (HI-1) instrument aboard STERO-A captured this view, which centers on Comet Encke. Comet ISON can be seen to the lower left part of the image. An animated view of the two comets can be seen here.
The NASA STEREO mission is made up of two identical spacecraft that occupy the same orbit around the Sun as Earth does. One of them, STEREO-A, is flying ahead of our planet, while the other trails behind. The purpose of the mission is to provide 360-degree views of the Sun.
STEREO launched from Space Launch Complex 17-B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCADS), in Florida, on October 26, 2006. The spacecraft have spent more than 7 years in orbit, though their initial mission was only supposed to last for 3 years, Universe Today reports.