Jose Bonilla Photographs Comet Fragments

In 1883, Mexican astronomer José Bonilla photographed more than 400 mysterious objects crossing the face of the Sun over the course of two days. On his images, the objects appeared as dark shapes passing between Earth and the solar disk, and they puzzled observers who did not know what they were seeing. Modern astrophysicists now believe he may have captured fragments of a massive comet that had broken apart in space. According to this interpretation, the comet and its debris narrowly missed Earth.

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