WATCH: Comet dies as it plunges into sun

Like Icarus of Greek mythology, this comet came a little too close to the sun.

NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured a comet as it neared the sun and died (the black disc is covering the sun in the video).

Comets, comprised of ice, rock and dust and gases, are scattered throughout our solar system. Every once in a while, one nears the sun causing the gases trapped within to vaporize.

This particular comet belongs to the Kruetz family, believed to have come from the break-up of one larger comet hundreds of years ago. These comets are called sungrazers due to their orbits that take them so close to the sun.

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