There comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS)known as the “Halloween comet”was completely disintegrated on its approach to the Sun. Its destruction was captured by the SOHO probe, which captured the event in a fascinating video time-lapse. The comet was discovered in September and was thought to be able to put on a show in the November sky, even lighting up the day. However, his fate was sealed from the start.
Comet C/2024 S1: a fate marked by the Sun
Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) belonged to the group of “Kreutz’s grazing comets”celestial bodies that pass very close to the Sun. These comets are also called “suicide comets” since, due to their proximity to the Sun, they are almost always destined for destruction. The case of C/2024 S1 was no exception: getting close to approx 550,000 kilometers from the star, the comet was rapidly sublimated, transforming from a solid mass of ice and debris into a cloud of gas. The spectacular images captured by LASCO coronagraphs of the SOHO probe show the celestial body becoming increasingly smaller and more evanescent until it disappears completely.
Grazing comets like C/2024 S1 probably come from a gigantic icy body which fragmented about a thousand years ago. Some of these managed to overcome the encounter with the Sun, giving memorable shows, such as the comet Ikeya-Seki (C/1965 S1)visible even in broad daylight in 1965. The comet of the century C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)however, resisted the encounter with the Sun at its perihelion of approximately 70 million kilometersoffering a still appreciable show at sunset.