A tiny"sungrazer" comet was discovered, photographed and destroyed during the recent total solar eclipse — all within 24 hours. It is one of just a handful of times a comet has been spotted during an eclipse, experts say.
In the hours leading up to the eclipse, Worachate Boonplod, an amateur astronomer based in Thailand, discovered a small comet near the sun after spotting a faint disruption picked up by the coronagraph on NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory , Spaceweather.com reported. The comet was named SOHO-5008.
As the moon's shadow passed above New Hampshire, amateur astronomer Lin Zixuan snapped the comet during totality, Spaceweather.com reported. In the new image, the comet is barely visible as a minuscule blur in the dark sky. By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.Later the same day, astronomers lost track of SOHO-5008 as it likely disintegrated after getting too close to the sun, like most other sungrazers eventually do, Spaceweather.com reported. Due to the limited data collected by researchers before the comet's destruction, it is unclear how large the comet was or how close it got to the sun.
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