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Comet Break-Up Pictured By Hubble
BBC ^ | 4-28-2006

Posted on 04/28/2006 6:06:26 PM PDT by blam

Comet break-up pictured by Hubble

The image shows the break-up of one fragment into smaller pieces

The break-up of a comet has been shown in extraordinary detail by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. The images reveal the comet has crumbled into over three dozen fragments; many more than had been shown from ground-based observations.

Astronomers say the Hubble images will provide an unprecedented opportunity to study a comet's demise.

The disintegrating comet will pass Earth on 6 May at a distance of 11.7 million km (7.3 million miles).

Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, discovered in 1930 by German astronomers, orbits the Sun every 5.4 years. Its break-up was first spotted in 1995 when observers noticed the comet had split into four chunks.

The latest pictures have shown that the larger fragments of the comet are breaking into smaller pieces which are seen accelerating away from the parent nucleus. Some of these smaller chunks are then dissipating completely over the course of several days.

Astronomers believe the comet's collapse is speeding, and it is not yet known if it will survive its next swing around the Sun.


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: breakup; by; comet; hubble; pictured
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1 posted on 04/28/2006 6:06:28 PM PDT by blam
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To: RightWhale

Ping.


2 posted on 04/28/2006 6:07:12 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam

Is that the comet that's supposed to kill us on May 25?


3 posted on 04/28/2006 6:07:46 PM PDT by AntiGuv (The 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty is bad for America and bad for humanity - DUMP IT!)
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To: blam

So, Karl's earthquake machine works even long distance on the comets. Great!


4 posted on 04/28/2006 6:09:33 PM PDT by GSlob
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To: blam

Can the Overlord, the Nechromongers and the Farinean be far behind?


5 posted on 04/28/2006 6:10:01 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (The United 'Door Mats' of America! Go ahead, scrape your feet on it. Everyone else is.)
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To: AntiGuv
s that the comet that's supposed to kill us on May 25?

Depends on who you ask... But thats an amazing picture!

6 posted on 04/28/2006 6:10:03 PM PDT by operation clinton cleanup
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To: AntiGuv

Yep


7 posted on 04/28/2006 6:10:05 PM PDT by bnelson44 (Proud parent of a tanker! (Charlie Mike, son))
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To: blam

"Breakin' Up Is Hard To Do"


8 posted on 04/28/2006 6:10:43 PM PDT by sheik yerbouty ( Make America and the world a jihad free zone!)
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To: blam
[The disintegrating comet will pass Earth on 6 May at a distance of 11.7 million km (7.3 million miles). ]

Wow. It's disintigrating after coming within 7.3 million miles of Earth? I didn't know that "global warming" could reach that far.

9 posted on 04/28/2006 6:11:25 PM PDT by Mad_Tom_Rackham (A Liberal: One who demands half of your pie, because he didn't bake one.)
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To: blam

At this rate there might be nothing left in a month but the smile.


10 posted on 04/28/2006 6:12:08 PM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: blam

It's hatching


11 posted on 04/28/2006 6:12:21 PM PDT by Shermy
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To: blam

Beautiful shot Is this visible through a telescope or binoculars?

12 posted on 04/28/2006 6:12:58 PM PDT by Fintan (Somebody has to post stupid & inane comments. May as well be me...)
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To: blam

13 posted on 04/28/2006 6:14:59 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (Being conceived is NOT a capital offense!)
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To: Fintan

It will be an easy binocular object and maybe even a naked eye object. Unless, it totally vaporizes. Poof!


14 posted on 04/28/2006 6:16:17 PM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: blam
Great shot!

Hubble Provides Spectacular Detail of a Comet's Breakup


15 posted on 04/28/2006 6:16:26 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi)
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To: RightWhale

I think the two best of my lifetime would be Kohoutek (sp?) and Hale Bopp.

When Hale Bopp passed through we stood in the parking lot at work every night and could see it even through the glare of the streetlights.


16 posted on 04/28/2006 6:18:59 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Never a minigun handy when you need one.)
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To: cripplecreek

Although this object will be in our sky, we don't have much night sky left. Maybe a little deep twilight between midnight and 2 AM, and that is fading fast. Astronomy here is over the Internet until late August.


17 posted on 04/28/2006 6:21:18 PM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: RightWhale
It will be an easy binocular object and maybe even a naked eye object. Unless, it totally vaporizes. Poof!

 

When? You're in Alaska, I'm in  SE Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia.

18 posted on 04/28/2006 6:25:35 PM PDT by Fintan (Somebody has to post stupid & inane comments. May as well be me...)
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To: Fintan

Nearest approach is in about a month if newtonian mechanics holds in the meantime. This will be true in Phiadelphia as well as Alaska.


19 posted on 04/28/2006 6:29:21 PM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: cripplecreek
Kohoutek was a bust. You must be thinking of comet Hyakutake in '96.
20 posted on 04/28/2006 6:51:10 PM PDT by Roccus
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