The LASCO C2 camera on the ESA/NASA SOHO observatory shows comet C/2020 X3 (SOHO) in the bottom left-hand corner.
(Photo: ESA/NASA/SOHO/Andreas Moller)
An astronomer has spotted a little tiny speck flying past the Sun which is a recently-discovered rare comet, as the world witnessed the total solar eclipse this month.
This comet was first spotted in satellite data by Thai amateur astronomer Worachate Boonplod on the NASA-funded Sungrazer Project, as Chile and Argentina witnessed the total solar eclipse on December 14, reports NASA.
Around the time the eclipse image was taken, the comet was travelling at roughly 7,24,205 kms per hour, about 4.3 million kms from the Sun’s surface. The comet was around 50 feet in diameter—about the length of a semi truck. It then disintegrated to dust particles due to intense solar radiation, a few hours before reaching its closest point to the…
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