The SOHO/LASCO data set provided here comes from the instrument's C2 telescope and comprises approximately 36,000 images spread across 2,950 comet observations. The human eye is a very sensitive tool and it is the only tool currently used to reliably detect new comets in SOHO data - particularly comets that are very faint and embedded in the instrument background noise. Bright comets can be easily detected in the LASCO data by relatively simple automated algorithms, but the majority of comets observed by the instrument are extremely faint, noise-level observations. Comets in SOHO/LASCO data are dynamic and morphologically diverse objects, and thus computationally highly complex to detect and track. This work is supported by the NASA Open Source Science Initiative and is part of efforts to showcase the cross-disciplinary use of NASA's science data and encourage public engagement with science data-related problems.