Detection of atomic oxygen trails of small comets in the vicinity of Earth

Transient traits of emissions at far-ultraviolet wavelengths have been detected by the Earth Camera on board the Polar spacecraft. These emissions are interpreted in terms of resonantly scattered solar radiation from atomic oxygen at 130.4 nm. The temporal durations of the emission trails are typically tens of seconds. The maximum brightnesses of the shorter trails are usually lesser than those of the longer trails which indicate that the shorter trails are farther from the spacecraft. The rate of occurrence of these trails is approximately 5 to 10 each day. These events are interpreted as the signatures of the disruption and rapid dissipation of small comets in the vicinity of Earth.