At closest approach on Oct. 27th, it will swoop through the sun’s gravity well just 0.12 AU from the star. Coronagraphs onboard the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) are monitoring the flyby:

Comet 96P does this every 5.24 years. It is a short period comet that experiences frequent blasts of solar heat. During a similar flyby in 2002, SOHO observed two tiny fragments ahead of the main nucleus. This means the comet may be actively evolving, and it could shed more pieces during this week’s dive.

This is no ordinary comet. Its orbit connects it with a bewildering menagerie of other things in the solar system: Comet 96P is linked to as many as three meteor showers (the Daytime Arietids, Southern Delta Aquarids, and Quadrantids), two families of sungrazing comets, and an asteroid (2003 EH1). Millennia ago, the whole ensemble was probably part of the same parent object that exploded or fell apart.

Does this comet even belong to our own solar system? A scientific study published in 2008 found that 96P/Machholz has “extremely anomalous molecular abundances.” Chemically speaking, it’s not like other comets that have been studied in the same way. Perhaps it comes from another star system, flung into space and later captured by our own sun’s gravity.

96P/Machholz will remain visible in SOHO coronagraphs from now until Oct. 30th.

Source: Spaceweather