THE much-anticipated ‘Halloween Comet’ has been vaporised, in a sad day for amateur astronomers.
Sun-grazing Comet C/2024 S2 Atlas was hoped to have been visible to the naked eye, even in daylight this month.
The sun was supposed to illuminate it for the Northern Hemisphere to see – but it has instead swallowed it whole[/caption]
Experts had warned that the comet may disintegrate as it passes the sun, before it has the chance to be visible to Earth-dwellers[/caption]
On 28 October, the comet was vaporised as it headed towards perihelion – the closest point to the sun in its orbit[/caption]
It would have been a rare celestial phenomenon caused by how close the space rock was projected to fly past the sun.
The sun was supposed to illuminate it for the Northern Hemisphere to see – but it has instead swallowed it whole in a disappointing, but not entirely unexpected, turn of events.
Experts had warned that the comet may disintegrate as it passes the sun, before it has the chance to be visible to Earth-dwellers.
Astronomer Dr. Qicheng Zhang at Flagstaff, Arizona’s Lowell Observatory, said he expected it to be an “all or nothing event” – with the latter ultimately becoming true.
On 28 October, the comet was vaporised as it headed towards perihelion – the closest point to the sun in its orbit.
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), jointly operated by Nasa and the European Space Agency, caught the comet’s demise through their telescopes.
During its closest pass of Earth on 23 October, the hunk of debris only reached a magnitude of 8.7 – the scale on which a star’s brightness is judged.
It was unfortunately not visible to the naked eye at this point.
However, the comet could be spotted with telescopes.
Astronomers believed Comet C/2024 S2 Atlas could reach a magnitude of -6.7, which is much brighter on the scale.
The higher the number on the minus scale, the brighter the star.
For example, the sun’s magnitude is about -27, and Venus is around -5.
After its closest approach, the comet began flying towards the sun in a make-or-break moment for the stellar Halloween treat.
The comet was discovered only in late September by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Hawaii.
Comet C/2024 S2 Atlas, visiting from outside the solar system, belongs to a family known as Kreutz sungrazers.
These are a family of comets that all follow a similar orbit, and make a dangerously close pass of the sun every 500 to 800 years – depending on each comet’s orbit.
What’s the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet?
Here’s what you need to know, according to Nasa…
- Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
- Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids
- Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it’ll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up
- Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn’t vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth’s atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
- Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vaporizing)
