Detection of a rare comet appearing during a total solar eclipse

While millions of people across North America watched the moon blot out the sun and its shadow raced along the total eclipse path between Mexico and Canada at more than 1,400 miles per hour. This cosmic event, also visible from space, lasted a whopping 4 minutes and 28 seconds.

In the hours before the eclipse, Worachate Boonplod, an amateur astronomer in Thailand, discovered a small comet "sungrazer" near the sun after detecting a faint disruption recorded by NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) log. This comet is named SOHO-5008.

Later in the day, astronomers lost sight of SOHO-5008 because it may have disintegrated after getting too close to the sun. Because data collected by researchers before the comet's destruction was limited, it's unclear how big the comet was or how close it was to the sun.

Sungrazers, which are comets that travel within a distance of about 8 million kilometers from the sun, or about 10 times closer to the sun than Mercury, were first discovered in the late 19th century. According to Spaceweather.com, most Most sungrazers are believed to be fragments of a giant comet that exploded about 2,000 years ago.

Previously, comet sungrazer was also photographed during the solar eclipse on December 14, 2020 in Argentina and Chile. Comet C/2020 X3 (SOHO-3524) was discovered and photographed as it was moving toward the sun. Experts believe that this sungrazer comet, observed over a longer period of time, is about 15 meters wide and moving at a speed of 725,000 km/h, according to NASA.

SOHO-5008 isn't the only comet being sought after by photographers during a solar eclipse. The icy comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as the "devil comet", is also said to have been photographed and may even be visible to the naked eye.

Micah Soto

Update 11 April 2024