NASA Captures Fiery Hot Moment The Sun Vaporized A Headless Halloween Comet

hero headless comet approaching sun
NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft captured the moment when a headless Halloween comet flew too close to the Sun and vaporized. Comet 2024 S1 ATLAS reached its perihelion, or closest approach to the Sun on Sunday around 7:30am ET.

Comet 2024 S1 was first discovered on September 27, 2024, in Hawaii by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Laser Alert System (ATLAS) project. While it was first thought to be an asteroid, it was soon after verified as being a comet. Much like the Greek myth of Icarus who flew too close to the Sun, causing his wax wings to melt and leading to his ultimate demise, Comet 2024 S1 passed within 1% of Earth’s distance to the Sun and vaporized. Comets that fly extremely close to the Sun are also known as sungrazers.

“This comet was likely already a rubble pile by the time it entered SOHO’s field of view,” remarked Kari Battams, principal investigator for the LASCO instrument suite on SOHO and lead for NASA’s Sungrazer Project.

The doomed comet was not the only one to make an appearance in the night sky this month, however. Comet 2023 A3, as known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, was observable with the naked eye in the northern hemisphere during two viewing periods. Unlike Comet 2024/S1, 2023 A3 never passed closer than about a third of Earth’s distance to the Sun, and stayed intact after it made its pass by the hot fireball.

For those who would love to have the opportunity to be among the first to spot a new sungrazing comet, volunteers are wanted for the SOHO project. If chosen, participants will learn to access the latest images from the ESA/NASA SOHO or NASA Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft missions and look for moving objects. According to NASA, the project is largely driven by amateurs. Visit the Sungrazer Project page on NASA’s website to learn more.