Dope Comet of 1882. Image: Sir David Gill/South African Astronomical Observatory
On Thursday, a comet dramatically peaced out on life by swan-diving straight into the Sun. Its final moments were recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a spacecraft operated jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).As it accelerated towards its death, this spacefaring Icarus was traveling at an insane 1.3 million miles per hour—faster than any object in the solar system, according to SOHO astrophysicist Karl Battams.
First spotted on August 1, the comet was torn apart by the tumultuous forces surrounding the Sun before it ever reached the surface. The dearly departed space rock was survived by a larger family of comets called Kreutz sungrazers, named in part for their daredevil passes with the Sun at perihelion.Scientists think that Kreutz comets were originally part of one giant super-comet that broke into thousands of shards upon a close approach with our star several centuries ago. Some of the brightest and most widely observed comets in history were Kreutz sungrazers, including the Great Comet of 1843, the Great Comet of 1882, and Comet Ikeya–Seki in 1965.SOHO, launched in 1995, has imaged many of these Kreutz comets before, but this one was particularly radiant as it bit the stellar dust. So farewell, brave sungrazer, and thanks for the reminder that the Sun eats planetary bodies for breakfast.Ooh fun fact - this comet will *easily* be the fastest (non-particle) object in our solar system right now! Prbly ~450km/s and accelerating!
Karl BattamsAugust 4, 2016