[webheart]

I don’t want to get insulty but what makes you think a comet like mass is going to disintegrate in ten thousand years? How does it form in the first place? Where does the energy come from that is going to melt it? No, it’s just as likely that it is millions or billions of years old and will not disintegrate in the next 10 million years.

[quantim]

Never said "ten thousand" years, even a perfect direct hit on say Alpha Centauri from a rogue comet from here would take many 10's of 1000's of years to get there at a high speed. "Interstellar" suggests that the distance could be billions of light years away, the writer is totally ignorant.

This comet was outgassing suggesting it is of a softer makeup, there is a myriad of scientific articles that describe how comets can break up over time, this is just one example:

Hubble provides spectacular view of ongoing comet break-up

Even try a simple search on Google: can comets break up

AI Overview:

Internal Stresses:

As comets spin, jets of gas and dust can be ejected, causing them to spin faster and faster. This rapid rotation generates internal stress, leading to cracks and eventual fragmentation of the nucleus.

Thermal Stresses:

As a comet approaches the Sun, its ices sublimate (turn directly into gas), releasing gases and dust. This process can create cracks and fissures on the surface, leading to the comet's eventual breakage.

The Breakup Process

1. Initial Cracks:

Internal stresses or solar heating can create cracks and rifts in the irregularly shaped, porous cometary nucleus.

2. Outgassing and Fragmentation:

Volatiles released from the interior into these cracks contribute to increasing the stress and the rate of gas and dust emission.

3. Definitive Breakage:
The widened rifts can lead to the final splitting of the comet's nucleus into multiple fragments.