December 22,2020 (CNN)
Newly discovered comet photographed during solar eclipse
在日食期間拍攝到新發現的彗星
A newly discovered sungrazer comet was photographed approaching the sun during last week's solar eclipse before it evaporated into dust particles.
在上周的日食中，一顆新發現的掠日彗星被拍到接近太陽，然後它蒸發成塵埃顆粒。
The comet was first spotted by Thai amateur astronomer Worachate Boonplod in satellite data on December 13, a day before the eclipse, NASA said on Saturday.
美國國家航空航天局周六表示，泰國業餘天文學家沃拉卡特·布恩普羅德(Worachate Boonplod)在衛星數據中首次發現了這顆彗星，時間是12月13日，也就是日食的前一天。
He was taking part in the NASA-funded Sungrazer Project — a citizen science project that invites anyone to search for new comets in images from the joint European Space Agency and NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO.
他當時參加了美國宇航局資助的「掠日者項目」，這是一個公民科學項目，邀請任何人從歐洲航天局和美國宇航局太陽和日球觀測站(SOHO)的圖像中尋找新的彗星。
The comet, named C/2020 X3 (SOHO), is known as a Kreutz sungrazer, NASA said. This family of comets originated from a large parent comet that broke up into smaller fragments well over a thousand years ago. The sungrazers continue to orbit around the sun today.
這顆彗星被命名為C/2020 X3 (SOHO)，被稱為克魯茲掠日彗星，美國宇航局說。這一彗星家族起源於一顆1000多年前分裂成更小碎片的大型母彗星。這些掠日行星今天仍在圍繞太陽運行。
Boonplod knew the eclipse was coming, and was eager to see whether his new comet discovery might appear in the sun's outer atmosphere.
布恩普羅德知道日蝕即將來臨，他急切地想看看他新發現的彗星是否會出現在太陽的外層大氣中。
A satellite image of the sun, colored in red, shows a bright speck of light orbiting the Sun. Around the time the eclipse image was taken, the comet was traveling at roughly 450,000 miles per hour, about 2.7 million miles from the sun's surface, NASA said.
一張紅色的太陽衛星圖像顯示了一個明亮的光斑圍繞太陽旋轉。NASA說，在拍攝日食圖像前後，這顆彗星以大約45萬英裡每小時的速度運行，距離太陽表面約270萬英裡。
The comet was around 50 feet (15 meters) in diameter — about the length of a semitruck, NASA said. It then disintegrated to dust particles due to intense solar radiation, a few hours before reaching its closest point to the sun.
美國宇航局表示，這顆彗星直徑約為50英尺(15米)，相當於一輛半卡車的長度。然後由於強烈的太陽輻射，它在到達離太陽最近點前幾個小時分解成塵埃顆粒。
People in Chile and Argentina were treated to the final total solar eclipse of 2020 last Monday. During a total solar eclipse, the moon completely blocks the sun except for the sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona, to create a beautiful ring of light.
上周一，智利和阿根廷的人們目睹了2020年的最終日全食。在日全食期間，月球完全擋住了太陽，太陽的外層大氣，稱為日冕，創造了一個美麗的光環。
Kreutz sungrazer comets are most commonly found in SOHO images. The space observatory's camera works by mimicking total solar eclipses: A solid disk blocks out the otherwise blinding light of the sun, revealing dimmer features in its outer atmosphere and other celestial objects like comets.
克魯茨彗星最常在SOHO圖像中被發現。太空觀測站的攝像機通過模仿日全食的方式工作:一個堅固的圓盤擋住了原本耀眼的太陽光線，暴露出外層大氣和其他天體(如彗星)，以便顯示出其較暗的特徵。
To date, 4,108 comets have been discovered in SOHO images, with this comet being the 3,524th Kreutz sungrazer spotted, NASA said.
美國宇航局表示，到目前為止，在SOHO圖像中已經發現了4108顆彗星，這顆彗星是發現的第3524顆克魯茲掠日彗星。
As far as is known, no comets have ever actually been seen to hit the solar surface, or the photosphere, the European Space Agency said.
歐洲航天局稱，迄今為止，還沒有發現彗星撞擊過太陽表面或光球層。
The Kreutz sungrazers get to within about 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) of the surface, just passing through the lower regions of the solar atmosphere (the corona). Most usually evaporate in the hot solar atmosphere.
克魯茨類太陽掠食者到達距離太陽表面31000英裡(50000公裡)以內的地方，正好穿過太陽大氣的較低區域(日冕)。大部分通常在太陽的大氣層中蒸發。