Astronomers have managed to record a rare event — the Sun literally incinerated two comets within just a few hours. Unique footage of the celestial bodies' demise was captured by the LASCO space coronagraphs on October 10 and 11, as reported by the Solar Astronomy Laboratory of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The video shows two small objects rushing towards the Sun and disappearing, evaporating in its atmosphere. Scientists note that such cases are extremely rare — usually comets pass at a safe distance, partially разрушаясь, but retaining their core.
According to researchers, both comets likely originated from the same gas-dust cloud at the dawn of the Solar System — more than 4.5 billion years ago. Such objects are considered among the oldest in our planetary system, and some of them may even be older than the Sun itself.
Scientists suggest that the recorded bodies were fragments of a large comet, once destroyed in a collision with an unknown object. This event likely changed their orbit, directing them straight towards the Sun. "Some massive bodies can survive several such approaches, but small comets, like drops of water, evaporate upon first contact with the star," the laboratory explained.
Such "suicidal" comets are known as "sun-grazing" comets — they enter the upper layers of the solar corona and perish from extreme temperatures exceeding one million degrees.
