Halloween comet no more? The headless icy visitor might be dying
Representative image of a comet
Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS), the second comet expected to make an appearance in the skies in October, is expected to disintegrate as it moves towards the sun. This might happen sometime early Monday next week, ruining the party for those who were expecting to catch a glimpse of the so-called "Halloween comet".
Space.com reported that while several people are touting it to become a Halloween comet, it is highly unlikely that it will remain intact. It said that the sungrazer comet belonging to the Kreutz family will disintegrate and won't become a beautiful spectacle in the sky like Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS did.
A New York tabloid created excitement around the comet by calling it a 'Halloween comet' and quoting a NASA official as saying that it "may become bright enough to see during the daytime."
The new comet is likely to fizzle out near the sun. Experts say that upon observation it has been noticed that it is already breaking apart. This is why it is becoming bright at a slow pace as it makes its way towards the sun.
Comets should ideally become brighter as they approach the sun. But Comet ATLAS is just a week away from reaching its nearest point to the sun's surface and hasn't brightened a lot.
As per astronomical standards, it is at around magnitude +10, which is 40 times dimmer than the faintest star that can be seen with the naked eye.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, Comet A3
From the end of September till the middle of October, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was a hot topic of discussion among stargazers. People saw the icy visitor zooming in the sky and clicked several photos. Social media was flooded with fascinating pictures of the comet from the Oort cloud.
This comet was also initially expected to die down as it neared the sun. However, later, experts said that it will survive its trip to our star and put up a spectacular show over Earth.
