SOHO (NASA-ESA Solar & Heliospheric Observatory) watched as a fairly bright comet dove towards the Sun in a white streak and was not seen again after its close encounter (May 10-11, 2011). The comet, probably part of the Kreutz family of comets, was discovered by amateur astronomer Sergey Shurpakov. In this coronagraph the Sun (represented by a white circle) is blocked by the red occulting disk so
![Stunning video: NASA captures giant comet hitting sun](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/681e192946915921c90759b358149703bc8144ed/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FMat4dWpszoQ%2Fhqdefault.jpg)