Comet C / 2020 X3 (SOHO) recently discovered in a LASCO C2 camera at the ESA / NASA SOHO Observatory. Credits: ESA / NASA / SOHO / Carl Butts
A total solar eclipse was observed in Chile and Argentina on December 14, 2020. It was unknown to Skywatt Chars, a recently discovered comet – a small thorn flying close to the sun.
The comet was first seen in satellite data by Thai amateur astronomer Vorachet Boonplod. NASAFunded Sungrazer Project – a civil science project inviting anyone to discover and discover new comets in the joint European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or images. Soho.
The day before the eclipse, on December 13, Boonplod discovered a comet. He knew the eclipse was coming, and he was eager to see if his new comet discovery looked like a tiny thorn in the eclipse photographs in the sun’s outer atmosphere.
(Left) The LASCO C2 camera at the ESA / NASA SOHO Observatory shows Comet C / 2020 X3 (SOHO) in the bottom left corner of the camera. (Right) Combined image of the total solar eclipse on December 14, 2020, taken by Andres Mલરller (Orbitcris Meteor EV), based on And 65 frames processed by Pedres del Aguilla of Argentina, and Jay Pasakov and Roman Vanur. Credits: ESA / NASA / SOHO / Andrews M Andndler (OrbitCris Meteor EV) / Processed by Jay Pasachoff and Roman Vanur / Joy Ng
The comet, named C / 2020 X3 (SOHO) by the Minor Planet Center, is a “Kreutz” constellation. This family of comets evolved from a large parent comet that broke into small pieces a thousand years ago and still orbits the sun today. Kreutzsungnagrazing comets are commonly found in Soho images. SOHO’s camera works by mimicking total solar eclipses: a solid magical disk blocks the sun’s otherwise dark light, showing comet features in its outer atmosphere and other celestial objects such as comets. To date, 4,108 comets have been found in Soho images, this comet being the 3,524th Kreutzsung Nagrazar.
At the time the eclipse was photographed, the comet was traveling about 450,000 miles above the Sun’s surface at a speed of about 2.7 million miles per hour. The comet was about 50 feet in diameter – about the length of a half-truck. It then disintegrated into dust particles due to intense sun radiation, just hours before reaching the nearest point to the sun.
