Comet Burns Up as it Flies Too Close to the Sun

Posted on January 20, 2012

An icy comet was captured by SOHO's LASCO C2 camera as it flew too close to the sun and evaporated. The comet was 150 to 300 feet long and is estimated to have the mass of an aircraft carrier. NASA says SOHO has spotted over 2000 sungrazers (comets coming close to the Sun) so far, but this is the first sungrazer death recorded on video.

Dean Pesnell, the project scientist for NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO), says, "Comets are usually too dim to be seen in the glare of the sun's light. We've been telling people we'd never see one in SDO data."

Take a look:

SPACE
COMETS