The solar system has one less comet. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) watched a comet dive toward the sun. The dirty snowball went in–but it didn’t come back out again.
The comet, R.I.P., was a member of the Kreutz family. Kreutz sungrazers are fragments from the breakup of a single giant comet many centuries ago. They get their name from 19th century German astronomer Heinrich Kreutz, who studied them in detail. Several Kreutz fragments pass by the sun and disintegrate every day. Most are too small to see, but occasionally a bigger fragment like this one (~10 m to 50 m) attracts attention.
Because of their common parentage, sungrazers often come in clusters. For this reason, it wouldn’t be surprising to find yet another one in the offing. Monitor Karl Battam’s Sungrazing Comet twitter feed for more sightings.
Source: http://spaceweather.com/
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