Halloween comet" disintegrates after flying close to the sun, video shows

“Halloween comet” disintegrates after flying close to the sun, video shows

October 31, 2024 Benjamin Hughes

Expert warns of danger posed by asteroids

Expert stresses the importance of monitoring comets and asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth

02:42

A recently discovered comet that some stargazers had hoped to see during Halloween week has disintegrated before the day of ghosts and ghouls.

NASA confirmed Tuesday its sun-observing spacecraft captured the moment when the comet Atlas broke into chunks this week as it passed close to the sun.

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured the comet as it zoomed toward the sun, posting video of its flight on social media.

Wheeeeee! ☄️

ESA/NASA’s Sun-watching SOHO spacecraft spied comet C/2024 S1 ATLAS (entering from bottom right) as it darted toward the Sun.

The comet reached its perihelion, or closest approach of the Sun, today at 7:30am ET. pic.twitter.com/T7kvthWOPe

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) October 28, 2024

At the time, NASA noted that the comet reached its perihelion, or closest approach of the sun, on Monday at 7:30 a.m. ET.

space observatory operated by NASA and the European Space Agency spied its demise.

The comet is thought to be part of a family of comets that pass incredibly close to the sun.

Disintegrated Halloween Comet — This image provided by NASA shows Comet Atlas, nicknamed the “Halloween comet”, approaching its closest to the sun, October 2024, as seen in this real-time image from NASA’s orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.

/ AP

Source: cbsnews.com