‘Halloween comet’ breaks apart after flying close to the sun

By: The Associated Press Posted: 11:16 AM CDT Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024

A recently discovered comet that some stargazers had hoped to see during Halloween week has disintegrated before the day of ghosts and ghouls.

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A recently discovered comet that some stargazers had hoped to see during Halloween week has disintegrated before the day of ghosts and ghouls.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/10/2024 (679 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A recently discovered comet that some stargazers had hoped to see during Halloween week has disintegrated before the day of ghosts and ghouls.

NASA confirmed Tuesday its sun-observing spacecraft captured the moment when the comet Atlas broke into chunks this week as it passed close to the sun.

Astronomers have been tracking the so-called Halloween comet, also known as C/2024 S1, since it was discovered in September by a telescope in Hawaii.

This image provided by NASA shows Comet Atlas, nicknamed the “Halloween comet”, approaching its closest to the sun, October 2024, as seen in this real-time image from NASA’s orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. (NASA via AP)

As it raced toward the sun, a space observatory operated by NASA and the European Space Agency spied its demise.

The comet is thought to be part of a family of comets that pass incredibly close to the sun.

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