A sungrazing comet is a comet that passes extremely close to the Sun at perihelion – sometimes within a few thousand kilometres of the Sun's surface. Although small sungrazers can completely evaporate during such a close approach to the Sun, larger sungrazers can survive many perihelion passages. However, the strong evaporation and tidal forces they experience often lead to their fragmentation.
Comet ISON taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 on April 30, 2013.
C/1680 V1, also called the Great Comet of 1680, Kirch's Comet, and Newton's Comet, was the first comet discovered by telescope. It was discovered by Gottfried Kirch and was one of the brightest comets of the seventeenth century.
Night landscape with the great comet seen on a field in Alkmaar in January 1681
The Great Comet of 1680 over Rotterdam as painted by Lieve Verschuier
The comet as it appeared above Beverwijk on 22 December 1680.
The Great Comet of 1680 over Nuremberg