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A glimpse of comet’s fragmentation

LAT-WP

Astronomers are getting a close-up view of the death throes of a comet as it passes Earth and enters the inner solar system. Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 has broken into more than 40 fragments as it speeds toward a swing around the sun on June 6, NASA officials said recently. The main fragment will come closest to Earth on May 12, when it will be visible to ground observers. None of the comet’s pieces will come close to hitting Earth.The closest fragment will pass at a distance of 5.5 million miles - more than 20 times the distance from Earth to the moon. Its largest fragment is thought to be anywhere from 1 to 3 miles across - observers will need binoculars to see it as it passes through the constellations Pegasus and Cygnus from May 12-14. Scientists do not know what caused the breakup of 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, which orbits the sun every 5.4 years.