Comet Disappears, is 'Eaten' by Sun [WATCH]

MISSION VIEJO, CA — A NASA video shot from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) shows a bright line of a comet slingshotting toward the sun, a familiar theme in Hollywood sci-fi films. However, this comet wasn't so lucky.

"Comets are chunks of ice and dust that orbit the sun, usually in high elliptical orbits that carry them far beyond the orbit of Pluto at their farthest points," Sarah Frazier of NASA'S Goddard Space Flight Center said.

On Aug. 1, this comet — part of the Kreutz family of comets that broke off from a large comet several centuries ago — vaporized on its journey around the backside of the sun.

"The comet was vaporized or torn apart by the intense forces near the sun," Frazier said.