All articles tagged with #sungrazer
Live Science reports that comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS), a Kreutz sungrazer, did not survive its close pass with the Sun. Space-based observations show MAPS disintegrating into a cloud of debris and a ghostly tail after reaching perihelion about 100,000 miles from the solar surface, leaving no visible body behind.
During the recent total solar eclipse, a tiny "sungrazer" comet named SOHO-5008 was discovered, photographed, and subsequently destroyed by the sun within 24 hours. This rare event, observed by amateur astronomers and experts, marked one of the few times a comet has been spotted during an eclipse. The comet was barely visible during totality and was later lost as it likely disintegrated after getting too close to the sun. Sungrazers, comets that pass within around 5 million miles of the sun, are a rare and fascinating phenomenon, and this particular comet was not the only one being hunted for during the eclipse.