Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) disappeared as it approached perihelion on October 28 as recorded by the SOHO spacecraft.
Strange images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft show comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) crashing into the Sun and burning up, Live Science reported on October 31.
Previously, people hoped that this comet could become a “Halloween gift” visible to the naked eye, but in the end these hopes were dashed. Astronomers have begun to observe that this celestial body is beginning to disintegrate.
Now, thanks to SOHO, a spacecraft operated by NASA and the European Space Agency, we know for certain how and when comet ATLAS met its end.
C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) passed closest to Earth on October 23, reaching an apparent magnitude of 8.7, too faint to be seen with the naked eye. However, telescopes can still catch a glimpse of it.
After that approach, the comet began to fly toward the Sun, making observation difficult without the use of specialized equipment designed for observing the Sun.
Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) passed its closest point to Earth on October 23. Image: Space
Comet ATLAS was first discovered on September 27, by the Asteroid Impact Terminal Terrestrial System (ATLAS) project in Hawaii. It belongs to the Kreutz family, comets with similar orbits, bringing them very close to the Sun every 500 to 800 years, depending on the individual orbit of each comet.
Like all comets, C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) is essentially a “dirty snowball”, a frozen body of gas, rock and dust left over from the earliest days of the Solar System. Heaven about 4.6 billion years ago.
Some comets can take hundreds of thousands or millions of years to orbit the Sun, but some can orbit in much shorter periods of time. Comet Halley, one of the most famous comets, orbits the Sun about every 75 years. Meanwhile, Comet Encke orbits the Sun every 3.3 years.
Another comet, called C/2023 A3 (Tschinshan-ATLAS), survived its closest approach to the Sun on September 27 and put on quite an impressive show for observers. around the world, visible to the naked eye throughout October.
Minh Thu (Theo Space)