The comet is seen traveling at 450,000 miles per hour through the sun’s intense radiation in new images from the only eclipse.
- A newly discovered comet was seen flying through the sun during the solar eclipse
- The comet was the size of a half-truck and traveled 450,000 miles per hour
- It was 2.7 million miles from the sun when it disintegrated into radiation
A newly discovered comet was seen flying 2.7 million kilometers from the sun during last week’s solar eclipse before disintegrating into dust particles from intense radiation.
Called C / 2020 X3 (SOHO), the comet was discovered by an amateur astronomer who examined satellite data the day before the total solar eclipse on December 14th.
The comet was part of the Kreutz sungrazer family, which originated from a large parent comet that broke into smaller fragments thousands of years ago.
C / 2020 X3 appears as a small spot flying through the sky, but experts say it traveled approximately 450,000 miles per hour as it passed in front of the giant star on Earth.
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A newly discovered comet was seen flying 2.7 million kilometers from the sun during last week’s solar eclipse before disintegrating in intense radiation.
The comet was discovered by Thai amateur astronomer Worachate Boonplod in the NASA-funded Sungrazer project.
This organization is a citizen science project that invites anyone to search for and discover new comets in images from the Joint European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA’s Solar and Heliosphere Observatory (SOHO).
When the comet was discovered, Boonplod anticipated that it would appear streaked across the sky during the solar eclipse and that it would appear as a small spot in the photos, and he was right.
On December 14, the comet was a small bright spot in images of the solar eclipse.
The comet was part of the Kreutz sungrazer family, which originated from a large parent comet that broke into smaller fragments thousands of years ago. C / 2020 X3 appears as a small motet flying in the sky, but experts say it traveled approximately 450,000 miles as it passed in front of the giant Earth star
Experts say it traveled approximately 450,000 miles per hour and measured about 50 feet in diameter, similar to the length of a semi-truck.
However, the comet disintegrated into dust particles due to intense solar radiation, a few hours before reaching the point closest to the Sun.
The total solar eclipse devastated South America last week and submerged thousands in Argentina and Chile in the dark for about two minutes.
Dozens of amateur and professional astronomers installed telescopes on the slopes of Villarrica, one of the most active volcanoes in Chile, to observe the phenomenon.
The eclipse was to be visible along a 55-kilometer-wide corridor that ran from the Pacific coast to Chile through the Andes to Argentina.
The total solar eclipse devastated South America last week and submerged thousands in Argentina and Chile in the dark for about two minutes.
The event was eagerly awaited among the Mapuche indigenous community of Chile, the largest group in the south of the country.
“Today we were all looking forward to a sunny day, but nature gave us rain and at the same time gave us something we needed,” Estela Nahuelpan, community leader Mateo Nahuelpan of the southern city of Carahue, told AFP.
“In Mapuche culture, the eclipse has different meanings: they speak of ‘Lan Antu,’ like the death of the sun and the conflict between the moon and the sun.”
“It refers to the necessary balance that must exist in nature,” he explained.
In another tradition, an eclipse means the temporary death of the sun during a battle between the star and an evil force known as “Wekufu”.