A new comet, observed by astronomers, did not survive its encounter with the Sun. It repeated the fate of object C/2026 A1, which burned up in the solar atmosphere a few days earlier.
The movement of the celestial body was monitored by scientists from the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy of IKI RAN and ISZF SB RAS. According to observations, on April 8 at 21:50 Moscow time, the comet was still clearly visible in images from the CCOR-1 coronagraph. At that moment, it was approximately 5 million kilometers from the surface of the Sun.
Comet-satellite of the previously perished comet C/2026 A1 falls on the Sun / Laboratory of Solar Astronomy (IKI RAN and ISZF SB RAS)
Later, the comet entered the solar atmosphere and perished. It evaporated without reaching the dense layers. This became known on April 9.
According to researchers, this was most likely another fragment of the same ancient celestial body to which comet C/2026 A1 belonged. This further confirms the theory that the previously observed object was part of a large comet that disintegrated in the past.
The size of the new comet is preliminarily estimated at 100–200 meters. It had virtually no chance of survival.