Coronagraphs allowed for measuring the properties of the comet as it reached very close to the Sun. It was noted that sungrazing comets tend to peak in brightness at a distance of about 12.3 solar radii or 11.2 solar radii. It is thought that this variation stems from a difference in dust composition. Another small peak in brightness has been found at about 7 solar radii from the sun and it is possibly due to a fragmentation of the comet nucleus. An alternative explanation is that the brightness peak at 12 solar radii comes from the sublimation of amorphous olivines and the peak at 11.2 solar radii is from the sublimation of crystalline olivines. The peak at 7 solar radii could then be the sublimation of pyroxene.